Root and Branch
by gladrags2012
Summary: Time has moved on. Rose, Carrie and Oscar have left MI High are now working in Edward Dixon-Halliday's elite unit for MI9. They are finding it hard to adjust to their new life and their first mission turns out to be more explosive than they expected. A change from previous stories. Hope you like it.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters which I have borrowed from MI High. I've moved the characters on to explore their new lives.

Rose, Carrie and Oscar have recently left MI High and joined the Extraordinary Missions Unit (EMU) run by Edward Dixon-Halliday.

Rose was sitting with Carrie in their lounge. Rose's father had had a hard time accepting that his brilliant daughter was not going to university and had taken a job straight from school. It was doubly hard because she couldn't tell him exactly what her job was. All he knew was that it was for the government and the secrecy gave him a clue about what it might involve. Rose had received assurances that she could study towards a degree if she wished so she was presently sitting writing a dissertation on novel radar techniques.

"Rose ?" asked Carrie. "What exactly is your degree course in ?"

"Well, it's not exactly what you would call a course," said Rose, pausing her typing. "It's a combined astro-physics, chemistry and cryptography course."

"You mean, you can basically do what you like ?" asked Carrie.

"Pretty much, provided I spend sufficient time on one subject to qualify for the degree," explained Rose.

"Boy, you like to make life difficult for yourself," said Carrie. She shifted in her chair, holding the games console closer. "I ache everywhere. Oscar's Dad wanted me to train up in Krav Maga. It's killing me."

"Isn't that the Israeli self-defence technique ?" asked Rose, only half concentrating.

"Yep, that's the one. It's brutal. I love it," grinned Carrie. "Oh yeah, got you ! Who's the best, who's the best !" she chanted. "Level 25 ! Read 'em and weep !" she said, showing her console to Rose, who nodded mildly. She had no idea what Level 25 was, but Carrie seemed pleased.

The door buzzer went and Carrie got up to answer it. "Yeah, who is it ?" she asked.

"Ciao, sono Oscar, mi puoi entrare ? Oh damn ! Erm," said a voice over the intercom.

"It's OK. I understood that much. Come in Oscar," laughed Carrie, releasing the outer door lock.

A minute later, there was a knock on the door. Carrie opened it to a very tired looking Oscar. "What was it today then Oscar ?" she asked, grinning.

"Italian," said Oscar. He walked in and threw himself down in the armchair, throwing his head back on the seat-back groaning. "I am knackered. I can't think in English any more." He looked up at the girls. "What have you two been doing then ?"

"Rose has been completing her PhD and I've been kicking the living daylights out of a punch bag," said Carrie, sitting back down.

"What ?" said Rose. "What did you say about PhD ? It's a BSc you know," she added, still distracted. Carrie reached over and pushed down the lid of her laptop.

"Isn't it time you took a break ?" she asked.

Rose looked at the other two and smiled. "Yeah, it's getting a bit late," she said, closing down the applications and logging off the computer. "How's it going Oscar ?" she asked. "You still language training ?"

Oscar nodded. "I've been tested on all of them now. They want me to learn another two this year. I don't know if I can do it. You would think it would be easier without school homework to do, but it's just so intense," he complained, rubbing his forehead. "I almost miss Mr Flatley."

"No, nothing could be that bad !" laughed Carrie.

"How about you ?" asked Oscar. "Are you even more dangerous than before ?"

"You'd better believe it !" said Carrie, grinning. "I'm a weapon of mass destruction. Well, not exactly 'mass' destruction. Fairly widespread though, if I say so myself," she added. This made Oscar and Rose laugh.

Oscar's mobile rang. "Hello. Oh, hi Dad. Yeah, I'm at Rose and Carrie's. OK. See you soon then," he said over the phone. "My Dad's coming round. Don't ask me why," he cut off Carrie. "He didn't say," he added. They chatted about what they had been doing, until the door buzzer went again. Rose answered it this time, and let Edward Dixon-Halliday into their flat.

Edward walked in, looking at them all. "Hope you don't mind me joining you," he said. "I know you've all had busy days."

"No problem, have a seat," said Rose pointing to the armchair across from Oscar. "Anybody want a drink ?" she asked.

"Excellent idea, could I have a coffee please Rose ?" asked Edward. The others also asked for something and Oscar offered to help make them. Rose thought he seemed a little uncomfortable at his father turning up.

"You OK ?" she asked quietly as they sorted out the drinks in the kitchen.

"Yeah, fine," said Oscar. He looked at Rose who had simply raised her eyebrows at him. "OK, well, it's taking a bit of getting used to, you know ?" he said. "He asks me stuff. I'm not used to it."

"What kind of stuff ?" asked Rose, puzzled.

"Well, what I've been doing. What clothes I like. What music I listen to. What food I like. He asked me what my interests or hobbies were yesterday," said Oscar. "I didn't know what to say."

"Don't you have any ?" asked Rose, surprised.

"No, I can't think of anything," said Oscar.

"Well, you're king of the short answer Oscar. Just be yourself," said Rose, half joking. Oscar frowned at her, unsure if she was taking the mickey.

"Here's the drinks," said Rose as they returned to the lounge. Carrie and Edward broke off their conversation as the other two came in.

"Thanks Rose," said Edward. He glanced up at Oscar, then continued.

"OK, good news everyone. We've got our first assignment," said Edward. The others sat up and took notice.

"We start tomorrow. I hope you didn't have plans for tomorrow ?" he asked. Carrie shook her head and grinned, Rose shook her head and Oscar shrugged his shoulders. Edward looked uncertainly at Oscar again, and then continued. "Our friends in SKUL seem to be making connections abroad to create an international criminal network. MI9 have tracked down what looks like a centre for smuggling weapons through the old docks in East London. MI9 is planning a major raid on this centre and our part of the job is to find information on the international network and any links we can find to other groups linking themselves with SKUL. It's about getting in quietly ahead of the raid and tracking down any operational information."

"No pressure then," said Carrie.

Edward laughed. "Well, the task is mainly information gathering. We need to find out more if this network is to be destroyed. Presently, MI9 has very little information. We don't want to simply trim off a few branches. We want to take out the whole tree, root and branch," he said.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters which I have borrowed from MI High. I've moved the characters on to explore their new lives with Edward Dixon-Halliday.

_Edward laughed. "Well, the main task is information gathering. We need to find out more if this network is to be destroyed. Presently, MI9 has very little information. We don't want to simply trim off a few branches. We want to take out the whole tree, root and branch," he said._

The following day, the team met at MI9 HQ. The building seemed busier than usual, with groups of people bustling about and agents walking past them carrying piles of equipment. Edward, Rose, Carrie and Oscar were directed to a large briefing room. There were already a few agents there, and not long after they arrived, the room filled with a large group of people. After a few minutes the Head of MI9 and Chief Agent Stark arrived. The room fell silent.

"Welcome everyone," said the Head. "We have a big task this afternoon. You should all have received a brief introduction to the task at hand," she continued. There was a brief nodding of heads around the room. "Excellent. Let's get started. She stood back to clear a large screen projecting behind her. We have become aware that SKUL are trying to create links with other criminal organisations in Europe and other parts of the world in order to expand their sphere of influence. Obviously this is something we and other world law enforcement agencies are keen to put a stop to. Today's operation is to close down a SKUL base we have found in the old East London docklands. We believe it is part of an international weapons smuggling ring. Before we close down their operation, however, I have tasked Agent Dixon-Halliday's Extraordinary Missions Unit with information gathering on the international network. It is crucial that we find out as much as possible about the overall network before we close down this branch. Any questions ?"

A few hands were raised. The Head gestured to one. "Yes, Agent Hendry ?"

"How are we going to coordinate the information gathering with the shut-down operation Ma'am ?" asked the agent.

"Right, I'll pass you on to Chief Agent Stark. He is in the coordinating role for this operation. Chief Agent Stark ?" said the Head. Stark stepped up to the podium. Rose noticed that Stark didn't look quite as pompous and over-confident as usual. If anything, he seemed a little nervous.

"Thankyou Ma'am," said Stark. "This operation is going to be tricky. From what we have found out so far, this international ring has links with some particularly well-organised groups from other parts of the world. With this in mind, we are aiming for a rapid insertion of the investigative team under Agent Dixon-Halliday. There will be a pre-arranged signal from them, for the start of the shut-down operation. Should this not occur within the agreed time frame there is an agreed timeout upon which the shut-down will occur. The majority of you will be responsible for this shut-down operation. To avoid confusion, I want you all to identify the investigative team now. I don't want any accidents later. Agent Dixon-Halliday, would you please bring your team to the front ?" asked Stark.

The team looked at one another and then got up and followed Edward to the front of the room. They were then asked to turn and face the rest of the room while the lights were turned up.

"Take a good look everyone," instructed Stark. "These people are relying on you. I don't want any friendly fire." There was a hum of discussion round the room, and then Stark gestured for the team to sit back down.

As they returned to their seats Carrie leaned across to Rose and said, "Well, that wasn't in the least bit embarrassing was it ?"

Rose smothered a giggle and said, "It's got to be better than getting tasered though hasn't it ?"

"S'pose," said Carrie, but she grinned back.

"Thankyou everyone. Please proceed to your individual briefing rooms for information on your individual tasks and collect your equipment. The investigative team leave at 2pm. The outlier task force leave at the same time. The remainder of the attack force leave at 3pm. Good luck everyone," finished Stark. People started streaming out of the room.

Edward went down to speak to Stark briefly before returning to the others. "OK team. Let's get started. Room 2.28." They all trooped off to their meeting room.

As soon as they entered the room, Oscar said to his father, "We've only got an hour before the shut-down operation begins ?"

"Yes, that's right. We considered taking longer, but to be honest, we decided it would be too dangerous. You are all going to have to get what information you can quickly. If you stay too long, there's a strong chance you will be captured and used against us. We don't want to give them any bargaining collateral."

"So basically, don't get caught," said Carrie.

"Yes, basically," smiled Edward. "I want you three to stick together. You've got complementary skills, which is why we were selected. Rose on tech and investigation, Oscar translation and decode, Carrie on protection." The three looked at each other then back to Edward. "Right, let's get on. I'll show you what we know about this base," he said.

They spent over an hour going over what information they had about the structure of the buildings they were going to explore. There were some old blueprints for buildings as they were originally constructed, but there was little intelligence on their current layout. Then they went through the gadgets and equipment they would be taking. They were travelling light, with some basic recording tools, lock picking tools and a few weapons. Finally Edward went over how they were hoping to gain access to the building and get out again afterwards. Once they'd finished, Edward took them up to the staff canteen. Although they'd been to MI9 HQ many times, Oscar, Carrie and Rose had never actually been to the staff canteen.

As they walked into the busy room, Carrie leant over to Oscar, standing on her toes to say quietly, "It couldn't possibly be as bad as school could it ?" she said.

Oscar laughed. "I don't think that's possible. I've already seen two plates of food that I recognise," he said.

"Yeah, but the food at school looked like real food too," said Carrie. "It was only when you got up close you realised it was alien food." She looked so serious as she said it that Oscar couldn't help laughing. Once they'd all selected their options they took an empty table in the middle of the room. They had only been there a minute or two when Stark appeared, carrying a tray, and asked to join them. Surprised, they invited him to join them.

Stark seemed agitated. "Agents," he began, before pausing for several seconds. "I don't often say this, but I'm not entirely happy with the intel we've got on this SKUL base. You need to be extra cautious."

"It came through a reliable source didn't it ?" asked Edward.

"Well, yes, normally," said Stark, screwing up his nose. "It just seemed too easy..." he trailed off.

"Don't worry about it Stark," said Edward confidently. "We'll keep our eyes open, won't we team ?" he asked the others. They were so stunned at Stark being cautious about intel and even weirder, worrying about them, that they were all sitting with their mouths open. Belatedly, they nodded their agreement.

"Alright, well I'll leave it in your hands then," said Stark. "Good luck," with which he got up and left.

"This is so weird," said Carrie, shivering slightly. "Since when did Stark ever have second thoughts about anything."

"Or first thoughts for that matter," giggled Rose. The others looked at her, shocked. "Well, you know what I mean," she said.

"Well, nobody's going to back out, are they ?" said Oscar. "It's a bit late now."

So it was that an hour later, Edward, Rose, Carrie and Oscar were gathered above an old pub in the old London Docks area. The agents were dressed in full spy gear, ear-pieces in place, carrying small back-packs, torches and with spy-pods hooked to their belts. Edward was acting as control, wearing communications equipment and holding a laptop loaded up with the maps and instructions.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters which I have borrowed from MI High. I've moved the characters on to explore their new lives with Edward Dixon-Halliday.

_So it was that an hour later, Edward, Rose, Carrie and Oscar were gathered above an old pub in the old London Docks area. The agents were dressed in full spy gear, ear-pieces in place, carrying small back-packs, torches and with spy-pods hooked to their belts. Edward was acting as control, wearing communications equipment and holding a laptop loaded up with the maps and instructions._

Edward checked with the other outlier teams that they were in place and then gave the team the go-ahead. They went downstairs, through the pub cellars and into a secret tunnel which had been used as a bomb shelter during the war. Torches on, they made their way silently through a short network of tunnels before arriving at another door. Rose placed a listening device against the door and then nodded to the others. Oscar tried the handle, which wouldn't budge. The door was either locked or rusted shut. He unhooked the spy-pod and used it's laser cutter to cut around the door lock. The door clicked and creaked slightly. It had sprung open a short way. Oscar levered it open and peered round. It led on to an empty corridor. He waved the others through.

They Rose quickly updated Edward on progress. He suggested they go to the right and continue in that direction to see what they could find. They made their way along this first corridor and through another door before they heard some voices. They quickly ducked into a niche in the wall. Two men wearing SKUL uniforms passed them, without seeing the three in dressed in black, pressed against the wall in the shadows. Once the men were out of sight, they continued along the corridor. "First contact. No problems," reported Rose in a whisper.

They came to some stairs and decided to climb them. At the next level they came to a room filled with computer equipment. Rose quickly examined them and said they appeared to be some kind of computer server farm. When Carrie asked who farmed servers, Rose explained that they were used to provide large scale computing services remotely. "So who's using them ?" asked Carrie.

"Could be anyone in the world," said Rose. "No telling what they're being used for."

"Why don't we collect a sample of the traffic ?" suggested Oscar. "We can have a look at it later. Might be interesting." Rose wasn't keen. She looked around and reluctantly agreed. She connected her spy-pod up against the equipment and left it there for a couple of minutes.

"That's enough," she said. "It's going to be hard to decode the individual data streams and it might be nothing anyway."

"If SKUL are involved, it will be something," insisted Oscar.

They carried on through to the end of the room until they found some windows looking in on an office room of some sort, scattered with desktop computers and laptops. "This could be useful," said Rose. "Let's have a look in here."

Carrie was looking around the room. "There don't seem to be many people around do there ?" she asked. "Bit weird. Maybe they all work nights. SKUL like working in the dark, don't they ?" she asked.

"Come on, we haven't got much time left," said Rose. "We've used up half our time already." With this they all dashed into the office. Carrie stood guard at one corner of the windows where she got the best view of the outer computer room.

Oscar and Rose started trying to access the computers. None of them seemed to have any password protection set up on them. "That's weird," said Oscar. "You would think a criminal organisation would try to restrict information to the minimum number of people wouldn't you ? Anyone could have a look on these computers. They must think the building is super-secure."

"Never mind," said Rose. "Just get as much as you can off them." She and Oscar got busy downloading files from the computers in the room. Oscar glanced at some which were written in other languages.

"A lot of these are invoices and receipts," said Oscar. "The goods sound like kids' toys though. They don't sound like weapons or explosives."

"Don't worry about it now," said Rose. "Just get it on the spy-pods. We're information gathering. We can take all the time we like looking at is later," she cautioned. "Ten minutes left guys. We need to get going," she added.

Oscar wasn't happy. "Dad ?" he called into Edward. "This is really easy. Much too easy. Is there anything odd going on in the building that you can see ?" he asked.

Edward sat in his pub room and frowned. "I'm not picking anything up," he said. "Wait while I check with the rest of the teams. The shut-down team should be getting in position now. You need to be making your way out again. Get moving !"

Oscar and Rose promptly finished up their downloading and joined Carrie at the window to check the coast was clear. They ducked down and left the office. Half way through the server room, Edward came back to them on the radio. "Team, you need to move. There's something going on. SKUL staff have been seen leaving the building. One of the observer teams contacted me to say there was a steady trickle of people coming out of one of the side entrances and now there seems to be nobody coming out. Have you seen anyone ?"

"Not for ages," said Rose. "We passed two men, but haven't seen anyone since. The place seems to be deserted."

"It's got to be a trap," hissed Oscar. "Run !" They all immediately started running through the room. Half way down, Oscar tripped over an invisible wire, stretched between two blocks of computers. As he sprawled across the floor, grunting, there was an enormous explosion at the far end of the room. The office windows blew out as the entire office room exploded in flames.

Carrie pulled Oscar up and they carried on running down the room. "What's happening ?" shouted Edward over the radio.

"Explosions," replied Rose. "It looks like the place has been wired up."

"Get out of there !" shouted Edward.

"We're trying !" shouted Carrie. They found the door where they'd come in, as one row at a time, the computer servers started exploding behind them. "Quick, get out of here !" shouted Carrie above the noise, pulling the door open. As fast as they could they ran down the stairs to the first corridor. As they reached the bottom there were further explosions on the stairs and the corridors started to fill with smoke.

Coughing, they ran out to the corridor. Smoke was starting to build up, filling the corridor from the ceiling downwards. They turned to their right and sprinted down the corridor as fast as they could. Carrie was in the lead by several metres, followed by Rose and then Oscar. Oscar didn't want to leave Rose at the back. The lights in the ceiling started exploding, raining shards of glass down on them. Rose screamed as they had to cover their faces with their arms to protect them. Bits of plaster and brick started to fall from the ceiling immediately behind them. "Come on ! Nearly there !" shouted Carrie.

"Dad !" shouted Oscar. "I've thought of something !"

"What is it son ?" shouted Edward.

"I like cars !" shouted Oscar desperately. Just as he said it, there was an enormous explosion. To Oscar it felt like the world turned black. He was thrown forward, crashing into Rose and propelling her forward. He fell to the ground, there was an excruciating pain in the back of his head and he fell unconscious.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters which I have borrowed from MI High. I've moved the characters on to explore their new lives with Edward Dixon-Halliday.

"_I like cars !" shouted Oscar desperately. Just as he said it, there was an enormous explosion. To Oscar it felt like the world turned black. He was thrown forward, crashing into Rose and propelling her forward. He fell to the ground, there was an excruciating pain in the back of his head and he fell unconscious._

The shut-down team had become a rescue team. Edward and the other MI9 agents had to dig their way into the cellar entrance. Rubble had piled up in the doorway. They passed blocks of brick and wood from person to person, piling them up at one end of the cellar room. They made it into the corridor and heard coughing. Breathing masks were passed forward. Shining heavy-duty torches through the dusty, smoky gloom, they could make out someone moving about ten metres down the corridor. Edward reached them first. It was Carrie. She seemed to be unhurt although coughing in the dust and fumes. They put a breathing mask over her face and a couple of agents helped her back to the cellar entrance.

Stepping carefully through the rubble, Edward saw something glinting in the dark. He knelt down and found long dark hair, covered in dust. It was Rose. She was unconscious. "Agent down !" he called over the communicator. "Bring a stretcher !" A stretcher was brought forward for Rose and she was gently loaded and carried out down the corridor.

Edward continued searching. He felt like a lead weight had hit the bottom of his stomach. The amount of rubble was increasing as he stepped carefully, further down the corridor. He watched where he put every footstep, frightened that he would step on Oscar. Eventually he again spotted something glinting in his torchlight. It was the face of a watch. He carefully removed a small heap of bricks to reveal an arm. It was strangely twisted and lumpy. It was broken. He felt slightly sick. He told himself to get a grip. He knew he would be sending his son into danger. This moment could have come at any time. It had happened now though, and nothing had prepared him for the sick panic which was rising.

"Help me please !" he called back. "He's injured." Another agent joined him and they carefully lifted off the bricks and plaster which covered most of Oscar's body. Underneath they found his head which was bloody from several cuts. The blood had dribbled down over his face which was lying against the floor. A stretcher was brought forward again and this time a paramedic came with some equipment. They put a neck brace on and immobilised Oscar's arm to prevent further damage. Then the paramedic had several agents line up along Oscar's body and together they lifted him on to the stretcher. Finally, he was carried away out of the building.

Edward evacuated the remaining agents out of the dangerous corridor and back to the pub building. He had to sit down for a moment with his head in his hands, shaking uncontrollably. After a couple of minutes, he managed to get some control of himself and sat back up. He found Stark standing in front of him, looking sombre. "You were right Stark," he said bitterly. "It was a setup." He had expected Stark to be feeling vindicated for being right, but the man stood silently for a moment.

"I'm sorry Edward. I don't pretend to know what it feels like and I'd rather not know. I'll tidy up here. You'd better get to the hospital. He's going to need you," said Stark. "Get Carruthers to take you. I've told him to stand by."

Still in a state of shock, Edward thanked Stark and went outside. An agent called him over to a car and said, "I'm to take you to the hospital sir. Get in !" He was driven swiftly, but safely to the MI9 hospital. It all still seemed like a dream. When he asked after the agents he was told to wait in a room and someone would come to him. It seemed like an hour before a man in a white coat came into the room. It was probably only a few minutes.

"Agent Dixon-Halliday ?" asked the man. "I'm Doctor Foster. I have you down as Agent Cole's father," he said, sounding puzzled.

"Yes. It's an alias," explained Edward.

"Ah," said Doctor Foster. He didn't ask which one. "Well, would you like to hear about your son first or the others agents ?"

"Tell me about the others first," said Edward. He thought he should be better able to pay attention if he was told about Carrie and Rose first.

"Yes, well Agent Stewart has only superficial injuries, a few cuts and bruises, plus a little dust and smoke inhalation. She will be able to go home tonight. Agent Gupta has a mild concussion and some superficial injuries as well. All being well, she should be able to go home tomorrow, provided she rests for the remainder of the week. Unfortunately, I'm afraid that your son has the lion's share of the injuries. His has a serious concussion with multiple cuts to the head. His left arm is broken badly. Several ribs are broken and there is some internal tissue damage. In addition there are numerous cuts and severe bruising on the backs of his legs," explained Doctor Foster.

"Where is he," asked Edward, his mouth dry.

"He's in surgery at the moment. His arm is being set and another surgeon is repairing some internal tearing in his abdomen which was bleeding badly. He is being well looked after," smiled the doctor. "Would you like to see the other agents while you are waiting ?"

"That's a good idea," said Edward gratefully. He felt guilty that he wasn't so upset about Carrie and Rose. They'd been hurt too, and all he could think about was Oscar. The doctor took him to a treatment room where he found Carrie sitting on a bed, wearing a hospital gown and wrapped in a blanket. She looked up as Edward came in and looked concerned.

"Edward, are you alright ? You look terrible !" she said.

"Isn't that my line ?" asked Edward. It seemed quite ridiculous having Carrie asking him if he was alright.

"No, seriously, sit down there !" instructed Carrie, pointing to a plastic chair beside the bed. She stuck her head out of the room. "Could someone please bring Agent Dixon-Halliday a cup of tea ? He's had a dreadful shock and I think he needs one. Whisky if you haven't got any tea," she joked. He heard a voice answering her and she came back into the room.

A minute later, one of the orderlies came in with a steaming cup of tea for him. He thanked the man, who said, "I've laced it with brandy," before leaving the room. Edward looked a little startled, but clasped the hot drink in his hands as if his life depended on it.

"Sorry Carrie. I'm making a complete idiot of myself. I'm supposed to be looking after you, not the other way around," said Edward.

Carrie squeezed his shoulder. "Just sit still for a minute and let it all sink in," she said. "The doctor told me what was going on with Rose and Oscar, so you don't have to tell me." Edward looked at her gratefully. Frank London had always said Carrie was the beating heart of the team.

"What did Oscar shout, just before the last explosion ?" asked Carrie. "It was something about cars, wasn't it ?"

"He said he was interested in cars," said Edward.

"Why ?" asked Carrie, baffled.

"I don't know. Does he like cars ?" asked Edward.

"He did always read car magazines at school," said Carrie. "I never saw him doing anything else, just for fun. Oscar's not like anyone else I know. It's not that he's not nice. He is really sweet. It's just that he hasn't had a normal life, like everyone else. No offence," she said hurriedly, worried that Edward might think she was blaming him for Oscar's strangeness.

"Not at all," said Edward, smiling. It helped to talk. His panic was starting to subside slowly. "I'm surprised he was at the back."

"Oh that's Oscar all over," said Carrie. "He can run faster than me and Rose you know, with his long legs. He stayed last so Rose wouldn't be left at the back. She's the slowest runner of us three. I suppose that's why he was hurt the worst," she said glumly.

Edward felt a little jealous of Carrie and Rose for knowing Oscar so much better than him. There was no point dwelling on it however. He had to get to know Oscar in his own time. It wouldn't help if he rushed the boy and made him uncomfortable. At least, he assumed he had plenty of time. He felt his anxiety rising again. If he lost Oscar now, when he had only just got him back, he didn't know if he would cope. He kept sipping the tea, trying to stay calm.

The orderly came back into the room with a set of clean clothes for Carrie. She disappeared behind some curtains and got dressed. It was standard black MI9 uniform. "Let's go and see Rose," she suggested. Edward smiled and agreed. They were shown to a room where Rose was lying in bed. She looked pleased to see them.

"How are you doing ?" asked Carrie.

"I'm alright. Got a splitting headache though," said Rose. "How's Oscar doing ?"

"I guess he's still in surgery," said Edward.

"You should sit down. You look terrible," said Rose. Edward was starting to get a complex about this. Just how awful did he look ? There was a mirror at one side of the room so he went over to have a look. He did look dreadful. His hair was full of dust and his face was white as a sheet. He wiped his hand over it and some of the whiteness came off. It was dust.

"I'm going to wash my face," said Edward. "Back in a minute." He looked in the mirror when he got back. His face was a more normal colour, although admittedly, still quite pale.

"Oh yeah, that's better," said Carrie.

Doctor Foster put his head round the door. "Oh, here you all are," he said. "Good news. Agent Cole is out of theatre and is in recovery now. The surgery was successful and the internal bleeding has been stopped. We'll take him to intensive care for tonight. There's no reason why he shouldn't make a full recovery." Edward thanked him very much and asked if he could see Oscar. The doctor agreed, but only Edward would be allowed to see him. Edward kissed both of the girls on the cheek to say goodbye and told Carrie and Rose to get a good night's sleep. He followed the doctor up to Intensive Care.

Oscar wasn't there, so he was told to wait in a chair. Finally the doors opened and a bed was wheeled in. Edward glimpsed Oscar's face as the bed was swivelled into a bay surrounded by banks of equipment. The nurses and doctors connected up all kinds of monitors to Oscar, placed a chart on the end of his bed and then left them together.

Edward went up to the bed, unsure what he would find. There were several bruises on Oscar's face. His left arm lay in a cast at his side. Numerous tubes were connected to a needle arrangement on his right wrist, wires led from his chest and two clear tubes were tucked into his nose. Edward guessed they must be helping him to breathe. Edward took a deep breath. Oscar was so still and silent. His face was ashen. Edward reached out a hand to stroke Oscar's hair. It was still sticky with plaster dust. He felt his fingers run over a line of stitches and he flinched, taking his hand away.

Silent tears rolled down Edward's face. What had he done ? He'd nearly got his own son killed. He took Oscar's good hand in his and stroked it. "It's going to be OK son," he said. "We'll sort out the car thing later. Don't worry about it. You just get yourself better, hear me ?" Oscar didn't move. A nurse came in and said he should leave.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters which I have borrowed from MI High. I've moved the characters on to explore their new lives with Edward Dixon-Halliday.

_Silent tears rolled down Edward's face. What had he done ? He'd nearly got his own son killed. He took Oscar's good hand in his and stroked it. "It's going to be OK son," he said. "We'll sort out the car thing later. Don't worry about it. You just get yourself better, hear me ?" Oscar didn't move. A nurse came in and said he should leave._

The next day, Edward and Carrie were called to a meeting at MI9 HQ. Stark opened up the debriefing by going over the information source which had led to the raid. Carrie had never sat in on a meeting like this. She started off feeling bored, but realised that she was representing the team. The others would want to know what had happened to them. She told herself to shape up and get on top of things. It was up to her.

Stark was still talking. "This source has provided reliable information to us previously. The usual checks were made and what they said appeared to stack up. The only concern was that it all seemed a little too easy."

"That's what Oscar said," blurted out Carrie. "Sorry," she said, shrinking back into her seat.

Instead of blowing up at her, as he had always done before, Stark asked her, "What do you mean by easy ?"

"Well, it was just so easy to sneak into that place," explained Carrie. "We only passed two people and they didn't seem to be on high alert or anything. They just walked past us. Oscar said quite soon, that it all seemed too easy. I started to get worried too after a while. There was nobody around, and SKUL bases just aren't like that. Rose was too wrapped up in finding as much information as possible to really be paying attention to our surroundings," she tailed off. She found it difficult speaking with all these people looking at her.

"Thankyou Agent Stewart," said Stark. "I will be asking you to run through the detail of what happened on your assignment in a moment. I've asked my team to double check that the source is still active and valid. It is possible that they have been compromised, or their information intercepted and replaced with invalid information. We don't know yet if we were misled or if they were. I'll now ask Agent Dixon-Halliday to describe the arrangements for his team's insertion."

Edward stood up. "We researched the original blue-prints for the buildings concerned and cross-checked against older plans for the surrounding buildings. We found that an adjacent pub cellar had been used as an air raid shelter during the war. There were tunnels which interconnected with one of the buildings we wanted to penetrate. I set up our mission HQ in the pub and our team were inserted via the cellar tunnels. There was no unusual activity in the vicinity when we started. There was no unusual electronic communications or other types of traffic which we detected prior to the mission commencement. In other words, we had no clue about what was going to happen." he paused and sighed. "I think Agent Stewart would be best placed to continue now," he said before sitting down.

Carrie took a deep breath before standing up. As she was shorter than nearly everyone there, she barely stood above Edward's head, even standing up. "We entered the target building through a rusted up old door in the pub cellar. It was all dirty and dusty as if nobody had been down there in years. Oscar used the laser cutter to get through the door because we couldn't budge it. We then got into a corridor. Agent Dixon-Halliday suggested we try to the right, which we did. We went down a couple of corridors and then heard voices. We pressed ourselves into a dark niche and let two men in SKUL uniform pass us. They didn't appear to see us and carried on down the corridor. Once they'd gone we carried on."

Carrie continued, "We climbed a set of stairs and came out into a long room, filled with loads of big computers and packed with tonnes of wires and cables and stuff. Rose said that it was a server farm. There was nobody in there. We walked through and Oscar persuaded Rose to collect some of the data which was passing through the servers. She connected the spy-pod up to some cables and said she'd recorded some of what was passing through. We didn't want to hang about in there so she only recorded for a couple of minutes. She seemed to think it would be hard to break into the traffic to find any individual data," she paused again. "I'm sorry, I don't really understand all that stuff. It's not really my thing," she added apologetically.

"Not a problem Carrie," said Edward. "We have people who specialise in that sort of thing."

Feeling a little more confident, Carrie continued. "We set off again. Down the end of the room were some windows into a smaller office room with lots of desktop computers and laptops. Rose thought this would be a good place to find information. That room was empty too. I stood guard while Rose and Oscar started trying to hack into the computers. Oscar said how odd it was that none of the computers had passwords on them. It was really easy to download information. He thought that a criminal organisation like SKUL would want to limit how much information all of its people could get access to. Rose thought it was strange, but wasn't too bothered. They downloaded lots of stuff. Oscar said that it all appeared to be invoices and receipts for consignments of toys. He couldn't see anything about weapons. Rose said we would have plenty of time to look at it later."

Carrie had a quick sip of water. Her throat was getting dry from the talking and her nerves. "Oscar called his Da, erm, I mean called Agent Dixon-Halliday to ask if there was anything weird going on outside the building because it seemed really easy to get around. Agent Dixon-Halliday told us it was getting close to the time when the shut-down team would be coming in. We had to get moving. Then Agent Dixon-Halliday told us that SKUL agents had been seen evacuating the building. We left the computer office and started running down the server farm room. Oscar tripped over a wire run between some servers. As he fell the computer room behind us exploded. We all started running as fast as we could to get out. The big computers started exploding one by one behind us as we ran. We made it out of the room just as the ones nearest us went off."

Carrie continued, "We ran down the stairs but explosions were going off there too. When we reached the corridor, the lights started blowing up above our heads. I was at the front, Rose was behind me and Oscar was keeping to the back. We were on the last stretch when there was a huge explosion behind us and the ceiling started falling down on top of us. I just remember the bang and falling over and then someone helping me up in the dark. That's all," she said quietly.

There was silence for a moment, then the Head spoke. "Thankyou Agent Stewart. You all did well and frankly it's a miracle that you all survived. What is the status of Agents Cole and Gupta please ?" she asked Stark.

"Agent Gupta has been released from hospital this morning with instructions to rest," said Stark. "She is not allowed to return to work for at least two days, to allow her time to recover from her concussion. Agent Cole is out of danger. He is now in the High Dependency Unit and has not regained consciousness yet," at which point Stark glanced across at Edward. Edward sat stony-faced, trying to keep his composure. "His injuries are severe, but not now life-threatening. Since he was the agent furthest back down the corridor, it appears that he took the brunt of the blast and its consequences. It's not known yet how long his recovery will take."

There was another silence, until the Head spoke again, "Thankyou Chief Agent Stark." She looked at the other agents in the room. "Clearly we were set up. We don't know if it was Agent Dixon-Halliday's team in particular which was targeted or MI9 in general. We are keeping all options open at the moment. We have an agent badly injured in hospital and I don't want to lose anyone else. Double check this source. Find out everything about those buildings we tried to access. I want any data collected by Agent Dixon-Halliday's team analysed. I want answers team. Get to it !" she instructed. Everyone stood up and left. Carrie and Edward were the last people in the room. Carrie went over and gave Edward a hug.

"You did everything you could Edward. Nobody knew what was going to happen. I'm going to check up on Rose. Why don't you go and see Oscar. We'll meet up this afternoon OK ?" said Carrie. Edward smiled at her.

"That sounds like a plan Agent Stewart. I'll see you at 15 hundred hours, prompt," said Edward. "Your place," he added, grinning.

"Aye, aye sir," said Carrie saluting.

Carrie got home to find Rose sitting at her desk going through emails. "Rose ! You've been told not to work. If your concussion gets worse, you could be off work for ages. Turn that thing off !" she ordered. Rose looked round guiltily and closed down the computer. "Come on, I'll make you a cuppa," said Carrie smiling. "We can have a chat," she added. Rose nodded and sat down on the sofa.

Carrie returned from the kitchen with two cups of tea. "We had a debrief session at HQ this morning. It was terrifying. I had to go through what happened with the Head and Stark and all these agents staring at me," said Carrie. "You would have been much better at it."

"Not necessarily," said Rose. "I was too intent on getting the information. It was you and Oscar who realised we were being set up," she added glumly. "I just kept on going. Old one track mind again."

"Oh don't beat yourself up about it Rose. Nobody realised what was going on until it was too late. Everyone in MI9 was fooled," she paused. "You know what the weirdest thing of all is ?"

"What ?" asked Rose.

"Stark was right. He was the only one who smelled a rat !" said Carrie. "How weird is that ?" she laughed. Rose laughed too. She leaned her head against the seat back, just as Oscar had done two days before. She looked tired, thought Carrie. "Why don't you go and have a lie down ?" asked Carrie. "Edward is going to visit Oscar, and then he's coming round here at 3 o'clock. You'll feel a lot brighter if you have a rest beforehand." Rose agreed and went off to her room to lie down.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters which I have borrowed from MI High. I've moved the characters on to explore their new lives with Edward Dixon-Halliday.

"_Stark was right. He was the only one who smelled a rat !" said Carrie. "How weird is that ?" she laughed. Rose laughed too. She leaned her head against the seat back, just as Oscar had done two days before. She looked tired, thought Carrie. "Why don't you go and have a lie down ?" asked Carrie. "Edward is going to visit Oscar, and then he's coming round here at 3 o'clock. You'll feel a lot brighter if you have a rest beforehand." Rose agreed and went off to her room to lie down. _

Oscar's eyes flickered open to a brightly lit room. He was lying in bed. Someone was holding his hand and talking to him. He glanced across and his father's face swam into view. He wished Frank was there. Why did he want Frank ? He'd spent all those years wishing for his father, searching for his father and finally rescuing his father. Now he was here, and all Oscar wanted was his old MI High handler. Stupid boy ! Oscar coughed slightly. He felt like screaming with the pain that shot all round his chest and stomach, but all that came out was a hoarse whimper. He was vaguely aware of his father calling for help and then there were other people around his bed. He felt a needle pricking his thigh, an aching pain and then all the hurt melted away. Dizzy and confused, he drifted off into sleep.

It wasn't quite the reunion that Edward had been hoping for. Edward could have sworn that Oscar looked disappointed when he'd looked over at him. It was probably his imagination. Oscar was in a bad way. The pain was obviously unbearable. He looked at the now sleeping boy. No, he wasn't a boy any more. He was a young man. Edward gently stroked Oscar's cheek, trying to miss the bruise and scratches. Edward looked up to find Doctor Foster looking at him closely.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude," said Doctor Foster. He had Oscar's chart tucked under his arm. "We will have to get him on a routine of pain killers for a while now. I'm afraid this will probably make him a little disorientated and confused when you come to visit. Don't be upset by it, will you ?" he smiled at Edward. "Hopefully, he will sleep through the worst of it. Best way to recover in my opinion," said the doctor briskly. Edward smiled slightly in response.

"How long is he going to be like this ?" he asked.

"Well, we don't know the full extent of his head injury yet," said Doctor Foster. "The broken bones will take four to six weeks to heal. The broken ribs will probably cause him the most aggravation. The internal injuries show every sign of healing quickly. We will monitor those of course. I have a scan booked for tomorrow to check up on those," he paused. "If you don't mind me asking, why are you not, well, closer ?"

Edward sighed. "When Oscar was four, I was sent on a mission where I was captured and held prisoner for over seven years. Oscar was left in the care of his mother, who then left him to join SKUL. Oscar was taken into a protection scheme and then joined the junior branch of MI9, becoming an agent. I was not able to see Oscar again until earlier this year," Edward stopped. "We hardly know each other. He's grown used to hiding his identity. We haven't had time," he said frustrated.

The doctor looked sympathetic. "I'm very sorry. Perhaps you will now have a little more opportunity ?" he suggested, smiling. "Why don't you make the most of it. He's a captive audience, after all." With this he walked away.

Edward thought about this. He would like more time to talk to Oscar, but he hated to see him in pain. He said goodbye to Oscar, kissing him on the forehead, and left.

Later that day, Edward, Carrie and Rose were sitting in the girls' living room. "How is he ?" asked Carrie, hesitantly.

"Not good," said Edward, running his hands through his hair. Rose glanced at Carrie. They had seen Frank doing just that so many times over Oscar. "He woke up briefly, but he was concussed and in a lot of pain. They've got him on pain relief now. They warned me it will make him confused and disorientated," he trailed off, sighing.

"It'll probably just send him to sleep, knowing Oscar," said Rose. "That's no bad thing," she added. "I guess it's going to take some time, but he's going to get better Edward. You know that don't you ?" she asked kindly. Edward nodded, grateful for the support of the two girls.

Edward snorted. "Hey, I'm supposed to be in charge of you two. It's more like you're looking after me !" he complained.

"Yeah, well everyone needs a little help now and again, don't they ?" asked Carrie.

Edward looked at them both, sitting side by side on the sofa, and smiled at them. "I can see why Oscar is so fond of you two," he said smiling. This made them both blush and he grinned more widely. "We need to focus on something," said Edward. "I need something to take my mind off Oscar and I want to find out what went wrong. Rose you're not allowed to work for two days, so the day after tomorrow, I want you to get started investigating this crowd we're trying to catch. Carrie, I'd like you to help. I'll liaise with the rest of MI9. How about it ?" Carrie and Rose grinned at him.

"Try and stop us !" said Carrie.

"I wouldn't dare !" laughed Edward.

On his way home, Edward called in at HQ to find out if there had been any progress. Stark told him that they now suspected their informant had been caught by SKUL and its allies and made to pass on fabricated information. The informant had been found dead. They had been set up.

It was two weeks later that Edward visited Oscar in hospital and found him finally sitting up in bed, fully awake and propped up between pillows, his arm in a sling. "Hey, you're looking good," he lied, smiling. Oscar still looked dreadful. The bruises were starting to fade a little and many of the smaller scratches had healed. The doctors were starting to reduce his pain medication so he was more alert than before.

"Rose and Carrie came," said Oscar quietly. "They were here this morning." Edward knew that they had visited the day before, but he didn't tell Oscar this. He was obviously still quite confused, sleeping on and off. He was just glad to hear Oscar's voice sounding a little more normal.

"Always nice to get some pretty girls visiting you in hospital isn't it," teased Edward. Oscar blushed slightly and looked down. "I guess," he said. His voice was only a murmur, but Edward knew that Oscar's broken ribs still made it uncomfortable for him to talk. "We've been working through the information you gathered at the SKUL base," said Edward. This made Oscar look up, much more alert. He focussed fully on his father's face.

"It looks like the data you collected from the computer office was all a plant," explained Edward. Oscar sighed and nodded slightly. This wasn't a surprise.

"We're still trying to unravel the communications traffic which Rose tapped into though," continued Edward. "It's proving tough to get into. Rose has been working on it all this week, along with the MI9 technical team. We might need some help from you when you're feeling up to it," he added. "The fact that it's so hard to get into suggests it might be of some use." Oscar smiled at him and then his head slumped to one side and he fell asleep. This could take some time, thought Edward.

It was another week later, before Oscar was cleared to leave hospital, but only if he was in full time care. Edward wasn't able to provide it at his apartment, so it was agreed to return Oscar to his own home where he could be looked after by Aggie Madison and his old guardian, Simon. Oscar had continued living there after starting his new job working for his father. He hadn't felt like moving in with his Dad and had felt more comfortable staying where he was. MI9 had allowed this despite him being too old to need the care of his guardian or house-keeper any more. Oscar didn't know it, but the MI9 psychologists had recommended keeping some continuity for a period to allow Oscar to adjust to his new situation.

Edward drove Oscar home. He pulled into the drive of the house, so Oscar was as close to the door as he could get. The door opened and Aggie came out. Edward went up to her and gave her a hug. "Long time no see Aggie," he said. She smiled back at him.

"I didn't know you knew each other," said Oscar, watching them.

"Your Dad and I worked together for a few years," said Aggie. "Long time ago now." She eyed up Oscar, trying to swing his legs out of the car door, wearing a dressing gown, pyjamas and slippers. "Right, young man. Let's get you up to your room," she said. Edward took his right arm and helped him up, steadying him as he staggered slightly. Aggie stood on his left, making sure he didn't sway over too much that way. His left arm was in a sling, so she wasn't able to hold him up. Slowly he shuffled towards the door and up the step. He reached the bottom of the stairs panting. He wondered if this might have been a mistake. Edward slung Oscar's arm over his shoulder and gently wrapped his left arm round Oscar's waist and hip. He was trying to avoid all the broken ribs. Slowly, one step at a time, he half lifted Oscar up the stairs. He contemplated carrying him, but Oscar was so tall and well-built now, even Edward would have struggled to carry him up stairs. Finally, they got him to his bedroom and sat him on his bed.

Oscar made no complaint as his father took his slippers and dressing gown off and laid him back in his bed. He was shattered. Edward tucked the duvet round him, and sat on the edge of his bed.

"How's that ?" he asked.

"Thanks," said Oscar. He felt completely drained and just lay trying to get his breath back for a minute. Aggie came in carrying a tray with a bowl and spoon.

"I've made you some soup," she said. "Thought you should get something tasty inside you after all that hospital food," she smiled at him. He smiled back gratefully. All he really wanted to do was sleep, but he had missed Aggie's cooking. Edward lifted him up, propping him up with pillows. Oscar was too tired to even hold the spoon for himself, so Aggie slowly spooned the soup into his mouth for him. Finally, she wiped the dribbles off his chin and said, "All done. Time for bed young man." Oscar didn't even look embarrassed at being treated like a child. He let his Dad and Aggie settle him back into bed. He felt safe and warm from the soup. Oscar was asleep before they had even pulled the duvet over his shoulders.

Aggie switched on a lamp and then turned off the main light. Edward collected the tray and they left the room. "What's the lamp for ?" asked Edward. "Do you think he'll forget where he is ?"

Aggie looked at him, amused. "You've got a lot to learn Edward Dixon-Halliday," she said. "Oscar hates the dark. Didn't you know ?" she asked.

"No, I had no idea. He was fine when I knew him," he said puzzled. "What happened, do you know ?"

They were in the kitchen, where Edward put down the tray. Aggie leaned against the table with one hand on her hip. "I didn't know, until recently. His mother told him what she'd done," said Aggie. Edward froze, looking at her. "When he was a little boy, she shut him in his toy chest overnight in a dark room as punishment for something he'd done," explained Aggie. Edward looked at her horrified. He'd heard that Jade had behaved badly to Oscar in recent years, but he'd had no idea the abuse stretched even further back. The guilt he already felt seemed ready to overwhelm him. Aggie wrapped her arms round his waist.

"You are not responsible for what Jade has done Edward. Nobody could expect a mother to do what she has done to Oscar," said Aggie kindly.

"I had no idea," whispered Edward. "Oscar hardly says anything to me."

"Oscar says hardly anything to anyone," said Aggie. "These things are painful for him, and he finds it easier not to talk about them. He'll tell you one day. You are just going to have to be patient with him," she paused. "If you want to know about Oscar, talk to those two girls he works with. They know him better than anyone."

"I do. They do really know him, don't they," smiled Edward. "I think they have the measure of me too," he added, laughing.

"They're women Edward," smiled Aggie. "It's what we do," she said laughing. This made Edward laugh out loud, guilt almost forgotten. Almost, but not quite. There was the small matter of sending his only son and his two best friends straight into a trap.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters which I have borrowed from MI High. I've moved the characters on to explore their new lives with Edward Dixon-Halliday. Sorry for the delay. I decided to start writing a book. Rule number one: never try to do too many things at once. Rule number two: who gives a stuff about rules ?

"_They do really know him, don't they," smiled Edward. "I think they have the measure of me too," he added, laughing. _

"_They're women Edward," smiled Aggie. "It's what we do," she said laughing. This made Edward laugh out loud, guilt almost forgotten. Almost, but not quite. There was the small matter of sending his only son and his two best friends straight into a trap._

For the first few days at home, Oscar only left his bedroom to use the bathroom. He spent most of his time sleeping. His arm, legs and ribs still ached all the time. His friend Illya called in to see him briefly. Illya was assigned to a mission and could only call in on him briefly. Oscar was glad to see his friend, but as they were both working on different missions, they weren't able to discuss them. It was difficult to talk without discussing their missions. They had to think of things to talk about. Illya wanted to know about Rose, which didn't surprise Oscar in the least. He knew that Illya had a thing going for Rose. Oscar wanted to know what it was like for Illya working in the adult units. Illya just shrugged and said that it was much like his old days working in Russian intelligence. Oscar was worried that Illya would not like working for MI9 after working for the Russians, but Illya pointed out that most of the enemies were they same for both of them, so it didn't really matter. He had to go and they said their goodbyes. Illya wished Oscar better soon. Oscar wished Illya good luck.

Finally, after several days at home, Oscar felt well enough to venture downstairs. With his left arm in its sling, he made it downstairs on his own, at his insistence. He didn't want to admit it to Aggie, but he was shattered by the time he made it to the living room. Sinking gratefully into the sofa, he looked around at the familiar surroundings. For the first time since the catastrophic mission, he was starting to feel like he was somebody again and not just a sick body. He wanted to do something. He was fed up with feeling tired. It was on this thought that he fell fast asleep. Aggie came in to check on him and found him snoozing on the sofa. She smiled and left him there while she made some phone calls.

After waking up in time for lunch, Oscar was again sitting on the sofa later that afternoon. The door buzzer went and Aggie showed in Edward, Carrie and Rose. Oscar smiled widely to see them all. They looked pleased to see him up and about. Edward was carrying a laptop which he put down on the coffee table. After a general catch-up chat, Oscar asked what was going on with the investigation.

Rose explained about the intelligence source being compromised and that they had been found dead. She also said that the data from the computer office room was all a dead end. It appeared to have been data copied from another source and left for them to find. She had spent most of the previous week trying to break apart the data stream they had eavesdropped on when they were in the server room.

"We were only there for a couple of minutes though," said Oscar. "There can't be much can there ?"

"Well, actually, it was transmitting at such high speed and high bandwidth that there was loads of data in there," explained Rose. "The hard part has been separating the different streams. I have managed to separate out some. A few are coded and those that we've managed to decode are in other languages. We thought you might be able to help translate them, if you're not doing anything else ?" she asked. They all looked at Oscar and he visibly brightened at the thought of doing something useful, which of course was what they'd intended.

"You can do it sitting down," teased Carrie. "Not asleep though !"

"Hey, do I look asleep ?" asked Oscar, insulted. Hm, maybe he wouldn't mention this morning. "Have we got any leads yet ?" he asked.

Edward looked apologetic. "I'm afraid all we've got is this data," said Edward, nodding towards the laptop. "We've got to make the most of it. It's unlikely that SKUL know we have it. We've let it be known that we searched the computer office, but only picked up the rubbish they left for us."

Edward and the girls were watching Oscar's reaction all the while they were talking. He was clearly enjoying discussing work again, but was starting to tire. His right hand was waving around to begin with, but after half an hour's discussion, was sitting on his knee unmoving. His head was sinking back against the sofa, when Edward called the meeting to a close and they got up. Oscar was moving to get up when Carrie put her hand on his shoulder and held him down. "Don't get up Oscar. We'll see ourselves out. Let us know how you get on with the data, won't you," she said. Oscar promised to keep in touch.

As they walked down the drive to their car, Edward looked back at the house as he spoke to Rose. "He still looks terrible. Do you think it was a good idea leaving him some work to do. He might overdo it and make himself ill again."

"No he won't," said Rose confidently. "Aggie won't let him do too much. Oscar needs something to focus on. It'll help him get better. Anyway, we need him. He's great at coding. Nearly as good as me," she added. Edward looked at Carrie who smiled and rolled her eyes. "His language skills are some of the best in MI9. There's nobody better to go through that data, is there ?"

Edward had to admit this was the case. He had to resist the urge to wrap Oscar in cotton wool. He was probably feeling over-protective after their disastrous mission. "You both really think it's a good idea ?" he asked.

"Yes, definitely," said Rose and Carrie together.

Oscar was sitting in the living room staring at the laptop. He was curious and wanted to get to work on the encrypted data. Unfortunately, he couldn't summon the strength to reach across and open the laptop. Aggie came in and sat down beside him. "Tired ?" she asked. Oscar nodded. "I think it will wait until tomorrow, don't you ?" she asked.

"How about I make you something for tea, and when Simon gets back, we help you upstairs to bed. Have a good sleep and you'll have a bit more energy in the morning," suggested Aggie. Oscar looked at the older woman beside him. He reached over with his good arm and gave her a small squeeze round the shoulders.

"Thanks Aggie. You're great you know," he said. This made her blush a little.

"Well, I always thought I was pretty good," she said thoughtfully, and then smiled at him. "Come on, I'll get you something on the go. Don't run off !"

"That's pretty unlikely at the moment," said Oscar laughing. The thought of being part of the team again had cheered him up enormously. It was just a matter of working around his body until he was fully functional again.

The next day, Oscar started going through the data on the laptop. It was harder than he had expected. When Rose had said it was coded, she wasn't kidding. He decided that it would be better to try to work out the code rather than try to guess what language he was looking at. After a couple of hours he had only managed to eliminate a few coding techniques and wasn't any closer to deciphering the information. He was exhausted and had to admit to himself that he needed to rest before continuing. He sent a brief email to Rose letting her know the coding techniques he had eliminated on the file. Then he lay down on the sofa and let himself fall asleep.

Each day, Oscar worked for as many hours as he could manage. Gradually he was able to do more. He was even more pleased when he could make it up and down stairs without help. He let Rose know when he had eliminated coding options and Rose was doing the same with him. The list of coding techniques which weren't being used was getting longer and longer. One day he was sitting with his chin in his hand, staring at the laptop, wondering what options were left. His arm was itching in its cast and he was thoroughly fed up. The door buzzer went and Aggie let someone in.

Frank London walked into the living room smiling. "Frank !" said Oscar, delighted to see his old mentor. He got up and gave him a hug. It seemed like years since they'd last met, but really it was only months.

"How are you doing then ?" Frank asked.

"I'm much better thanks," said Oscar. "I haven't seen you for months have I ? Seems like forever."

Frank smiled. Oscar didn't know that Frank had seen him in hospital soon after he was admitted, but Oscar had still been woozy on painkillers and hadn't realised he was there. It was good to see him up and alert.

After asking after Carrie and Rose, Frank asked how things were going with Oscar's Dad. Oscar stopped to think. He wasn't sure how things were going. Frank had been the closest to a father that he had ever had in his life. Oscar knew that he wasn't good at letting people into his life because there was so much he would rather not talk about. There were too many bad memories. He preferred to live in the present with the few people he was close to. "Dad is trying to get to know me. I realise that's what he is doing. It's just that he asks me lots of questions. I don't always know the answer and I end up feeling like I'm not a proper person.

"Of course you're a proper person !" said Frank. "Oscar, you haven't had a normal life. Considering what you've been through, you are an amazingly proper person. I know your Dad is really proud of you and everything you've done. He's had a pretty strange life too. Just let him be himself and he'll get to know you too. It's going to take time, that's all. You've got used to hiding yourself from other people. Now you've got a chance to relax and be yourself," he added.

"The thing is," said Oscar, frustrated, "I'm not good at being myself. I'm better at being someone else."

Frank laughed. "Don't think about it too much. It will happen when you're not looking."

Oscar thought about it. There was no going back to how things used to be, so he was going to have to get used to it. He thanked Frank for coming round to see him and they said their goodbyes. After Frank had gone Aggie came in to tell him that they had a visitor for tea. She hoped he was hungry. He wasn't very hungry, but didn't tell Aggie. The visitor arrived shortly after. It was his father.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters which I have borrowed from MI High. I've moved the characters on to explore their new lives with Edward Dixon-Halliday. Happy Christmas !

_Oscar thought about it. There was no going back to how things used to be, so he was going to have to get used to it. He thanked Frank for coming round to see him and they said their goodbyes. After Frank had gone Aggie came in to tell him that they had a visitor for tea. She hoped he was hungry. He wasn't very hungry, but didn't tell Aggie. The visitor arrived shortly after. It was his father._

Sitting at the dinner table, Oscar was trying not to get tense. His Dad was making small talk with Aggie and Simon. After a while his Dad turned to him and said, "You said you like cars."

"Did I ?" asked Oscar, confused. "When ?"

"Just before the final explosion at the SKUL base," said his Dad. "You said, you'd just thought of something, that you liked cars."

"Oh, I don't remember," said Oscar.

"Why did you say it ? Was it a coded message ?" asked Edward.

"No. Oh, no !" said Oscar, realising what had happened. "You remember you asked me what I did for hobbies and interests and I couldn't think of anything ?"

"Yes, I remember," said Edward.

"Well, I suddenly remembered that I like cars," said Oscar, as if this made everything perfectly clear.

"OK. Was that a really good time to tell me or something ?" asked his Dad, looking bemused.

"I don't know. I was worried that we were going to be killed and I wanted to tell you before, you know ..." Oscar tailed off. "I didn't want you to think I was totally weird or something," he explained, sticking another mouthful of food in. "I didn't ever do much. There was always hiding from SKUL, or work or practising languages or training and stuff. I used to get a car magazine. I liked to look at the cars, see how fast they could go. You know the sort of stuff ?" It was hard work explaining all of this to his Dad. He was starting to feel tired and wasn't hungry any more. There was still food on his plate, but he couldn't eat it. He put his knife and fork down and pushed the plate away.

Edward was fighting off tears. "Well," he said hoarsely, "I'm really glad you did tell me. It's good to know something you like." Aggie and Simon were studying their plates intently. Edward put down his cutlery too. "Are you tired ? Do you want to go and sit in the living room for a bit while Aggie and Simon finish their dinner ?" he asked. Oscar nodded. Edward excused himself to Aggie and Simon and followed Oscar to the living room. They both flopped down on to the sofa together.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there Oscar," said Edward quietly. "It felt like a lifetime, and it was. It was your lifetime."

Oscar looked at his Dad. He'd never seen him look so depressed. Ever since he'd met him, his Dad had been positive and teasing him all the time. "I'm glad you're back Dad. Honestly I am. It's just different, you know ?" Edward reached across and pulled Oscar up close to him, resting Oscar's head on his chest and stroking his hair. There were patches of shorter hair where it had been shaved off when the doctors stitched up his head wounds. They were starting to disappear amongst the longer curls which were growing quickly.

"You take your time son. I always loved you, even when I wasn't there. We've both got a lot of new stuff to get used to. I'll try not to rush you. It's just that I'm so excited to have you back again and I want to know everything," said Edward quietly. They sat together in silence for quite a while until Edward noticed that Oscar's breathing was very slow and steady. He'd fallen asleep. Edward smiled down on his sleeping boy's head and continued stroking his hair.

After a while Aggie stuck her head round the door to find Oscar asleep on his Dad. "Do you want a coffee ?" she whispered to Edward.

"Please," he whispered back.

A short while later, Edward, Aggie and Simon were sitting having a whispered conversation, drinking hot drinks. Oscar continued to sleep peacefully on his Dad.

"Are you comfortable like that," asked Simon in a whisper to Edward.

"Never been better," whispered back Edward, beaming with happiness. Aggie couldn't help smiling at the two of them.

"Oscar's a lot better now. Do you think they'll let him back to work with his arm in that cast ? It would do him good to get out again," said Aggie. "Plus he's only going to get so far on that laptop and his own knowledge."

"I don't know, on both counts," said Edward. "He should be able to work at HQ. Oscar has done as well as anyone else in MI9 entirely on his own resources. Rose has been working at HQ and hasn't done any better."

"Put them together then," suggested Simon. "They might give each other ideas."

Edward thought about this. "He's due a hospital checkup tomorrow. I'll see if he can be assigned to light duties. You might be right about working with Rose. Good suggestion," he added. Oscar woke up at this point and looked blearily round at the three older agents.

"Oh. Did I miss anything ?" he asked.

"We were all talking about you," teased Aggie.

Oscar looked sheepish and self-conscious for a moment. Then he realised they were just teasing him, and snorted. "I'm going to bed," he announced, getting up.

"I'll give you a lift to the hospital for your checkup tomorrow Oscar," said Edward.

"Oh, yeah. Thanks. When is that ?" asked Oscar, still half asleep.

"I'll pick you up at 9:30am," said Edward.

"OK. See you then," said Oscar, walking out of the room. Then he came back to the door. "Sorry, forgot to say Goodnight," he said to the others, before disappearing again.

"Don't worry, I'll get him up in time," said Aggie. "He's nothing like 100%, but I suppose the doctors will be able to work that out," she added.

"I'm glad he's still with us," said Simon. There was silence for a minute.

Then Edward spoke. "I'm going to nail those bastards," he said. The others were shocked by his tone.

"Do it properly then Edward," said Aggie. "Take your time and don't get fooled again. They're clever."

"Yes, they are," agreed Edward. "This time, I'm going to get my team to set the agenda. We're not relying on anyone else's intel again. We move when we're good and ready. If that means waiting for Oscar to get back to full fitness, then so be it."


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters which I have borrowed from MI High. I've moved the characters on to explore their new lives with Edward Dixon-Halliday.

"_Yes, they are," agreed Edward. "This time, I'm going to get my team to set the agenda. We're not relying on anyone else's intel again. We move when we're good and ready. If that means waiting for Oscar to get back to full fitness, then so be it."_

The following day, Oscar spent an hour being poked, prodded and scanned at the hospital. Finally he was given the go-ahead to return to light duties at MI9 HQ. The cast on his arm would have to stay on for a further 2 weeks, but the doctors said he was healing well.

Edward had suggested taking Oscar for a haircut on the way to work and Oscar agreed. He'd seen his reflection in the car wing mirror on the way and thought he looked a bit dishevelled. Edward took the barber to one side and explained that Oscar had had an accident and needed his hair tidying up. The barber nodded his understanding and agreed with Oscar the best way to even up his hair. They opted not to cut off too much in the end. Cutting it too short would just expose the wounds. He could brush it across to cover up the worst damage.

With his hair gelled neatly, Oscar looked different. Edward could have sworn that Oscar was standing up straighter and looked more alert. When they walked into the lab where Rose was working, she saw them and jumped up to hug and kiss Oscar. He was embarrassed by the attention, but obviously pleased too. The two of them sat down together at two computer screens and immediately started discussing their strategy for breaking into the encrypted data. There was much hand waving, agreeing and disagreeing and tapping at keyboards. Oscar was hampered by only being able to use one arm, but he more than made up for it in argument. Edward couldn't remember ever seeing Oscar so animated. He left them to it.

Rose and Oscar worked intensely on the code. They pushed each other further and further and seemed to be making some progress. At one point they thought they'd made a breakthrough, but it turned out to be a dead end. "I think we're on the right track now," said Rose at one point. "I think we're getting some way in."

"Maybe it's a double layer of encryption," suggested Oscar. "I think I've heard of it being used by the Russians in the Second World War," he added. Rose frowned, looking at him intently. Oscar thought she looked scarily clever when she had that expression on her face. He was glad they were on the same side.

"OK, we need to try it," said Rose. "Is there a Russian coding book over there ?" she asked, looking over at the book shelves. Oscar jumped up and searched the shelves. Many of the books were old, but were still useful for decrypting. Many of the older coding techniques were still used in combination with others. He tucked the book under his arm and came back. A wave of dizziness came over him as he walked back, staggering slightly, and Rose noticed. "Are you alright Oscar ? Do you need to take a break ?"

Oscar was too excited at the progress they'd made. He didn't want to stop now. "No, I'm fine. Probably jumped up to quickly," he said. He sat down beside Rose again, and they set to work going through the information in the book. It was written in Russian, so Oscar had to translate the text for Rose. The concentration required was starting to make him tired, but he didn't notice because he was too wrapped up in the investigation. It was great to be working properly again.

Rose thought they were definitely getting somewhere now. She had the feeling they were on the point of teasing apart the data stream. Oscar decided to look for another coding book to see if there was any more detail on one of the old families of algorithms. He jumped up out of his chair, but as he stepped forward, he heard the blood rushing in his ears and saw the world slide into darkness.

Rose dropped her book and lunged to catch Oscar before he banged his head on the floor. She managed to lessen the impact, but Oscar was so much larger than her, that there was a limit to what she could do. She laid his head down, felt for his pulse and called his name. His heartbeat was racing. Worried, she dashed for the phone and made a call for emergency medical help. Then she called Edward.

Edward arrived just after the paramedics. Oscar was still unconscious. They listened to his heart and took his blood pressure. They said his blood pressure was very high and they would take him through to medical reception for a checkup. Oscar started to come round after they'd loaded him on to the wheeled stretcher. He blearily tried to sit up, but the paramedics firmly strapped him down.

A short while later, Edward was talking to the doctor who had been treating Oscar. "Has he just overdone it ?" he asked.

"Yes, too much physical and intense mental activity I'm afraid," said the doctor. "No more work today and he should take it easy for the next two days. He needs to start gradually and let his body keep up with him. Luckily, his colleague was able to break his fall a little, so he hasn't re-broken any of his ribs, although there is some additional bruising. I want him to rest here for two hours while we keep him under observation and then you can take him home." Edward thanked the doctor for his help and went to join Oscar and Rose in the treatment room.

Oscar was lying on a bed in his own clothes, but without his shirt, with a couple of hospital blankets covering him. He was connected up to a heart monitor and a cuff on his arm was measuring his blood pressure at intervals. Rose was speaking to him quietly.

Oscar looked over at her, and said, "I'm really sorry Rose. I didn't mean to scare you, and we were getting so close."

"It's OK Oscar, you don't have to keep apologising," said Rose. "I saw you getting tired and I should have made you stop then," she added.

Edward took a good look at his son while Oscar was focussed on Rose's face. His face was pale and his hand was picking at the blanket, looking a little shaky. He'd obviously had a shock. Edward decided that Oscar had probably learnt his lesson and coming down hard on him was not necessary. In any case, he didn't look well enough.

"How are you feeling ?" asked Edward. Oscar looked up at him.

"I'm OK now thanks," he said. He would have been more convincing if he hadn't been white as a sheet with his hands gripping on the blankets as if he was afraid someone would steal them. "Sorry Dad. I screwed up," he added.

"Yes you did, but it was in a good cause," said Edward, smiling. "The doctor says you have to stay here for another two hours and then I can take you home. You're not allowed to work for the next two days though." Oscar winced.

Rose took hold of his right hand and said, "It's OK Oscar. I can carry on trying all the combinations of the algorithms we found. That will take me two days at least. By the time you get back to work, we might have something to work on."

"Oh yes, and the doctor says you need to get back to work slowly," said Edward meaningfully, nodding his head at Oscar.

"OK," said Oscar quietly. He didn't want to admit it to the others, but he felt absolutely dreadful. His head started spinning every time he moved it and his whole body felt heavy and shivery. He didn't want to risk this again. He could have fallen and knocked himself out if Rose hadn't been there. Feeling cold, Oscar shivered visibly.

Edward fetched another blanket from a pile in the corner and laid it over Oscar's chest and arms. "Better ?" he asked. Oscar nodded gratefully. "Rose, why don't you go and get yourself some food," suggested Edward. "You haven't had any lunch have you ?"

Rose agreed and left, after kissing Oscar goodbye. Edward sat in Rose's vacated chair and took Oscar's good hand in his. "Well, we've got a couple of hours to kill. Do you want to have a nap ?" Edward asked Oscar.

Oscar shook his head. "Can you stay for a bit ?" he asked hesitantly.

"I was planning on staying till I took you home," said Edward. He smiled at Oscar who pressed his hand gratefully.

"Thanks Dad," said Oscar. Edward was momentarily overcome that Oscar still didn't take love for granted. He sat with Oscar for the full two hours, telling him about some of the missions he'd been on, and what Oscar had been like as a little boy. Oscar listened to every word with rapt attention. Edward had not realised that Oscar wanted to know about him as much as he had wanted to know about Oscar. When the doctor returned to check over the monitor readings, he said they had returned to near normal levels and Oscar was free to go. Edward helped Oscar to sit up and supported him while he got his balance and put his shirt back on.

"Do you have any wheelchairs spare ?" Edward asked the doctor. The doctor was standing frowning at Oscar.

"Yes, I'll get one for you," said the doctor. When he returned with a chair, he said, "Why don't I get one of the orderlies to bring Oscar down to the rear bay, and you can bring a car round to collect him ?" Edward agreed gratefully as he helped Oscar into the wheelchair.

Ten minutes later, Edward was driving Oscar back to his house. Seeing that Oscar looked cold and shivery, Edward turned up the car heater to full. "We'll have you home soon son," he said. "I think Aggie has got something cooking for you."

Oscar smiled at him. "I'm not that hungry," he said.

"Well, I'll finish off anything you leave," said Edward. This made Oscar laugh, which of course was Edward's plan. Simon had to help Edward get Oscar into the house. They took him straight up to his room and Edward helped him get ready for bed. Simon returned with two hot water bottles which they tucked around Oscar and Aggie brought a bowl of soup for him. After the soup, Oscar finally stopped shivering. As soon as his head touched the pillow, he was asleep. Edward was surprised, given how self-conscious Oscar was, that he could fall asleep with three people standing looking at him.

"I think he's in shock," said Aggie. "It's delayed from the accident." Simon nodded in agreement. Aggie looked at Edward and saw the worry on his face. "Don't worry Edward. I'll look after him for a couple of days. Come round and visit. He'll be fine."


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters which I have borrowed from MI High. I've moved the characters on to explore their new lives with Edward Dixon-Halliday.

"_I think he's in shock," said Aggie. "It's delayed from the accident." Simon nodded in agreement. Aggie looked at Edward and saw the worry on his face. "Don't worry Edward. I'll look after him for a couple of days. Come round and visit. He'll be fine." _

Oscar spent a couple of days at home doing nothing. The first day was easy. He slept, ate and watched a film. The second day was harder because he was starting to feel better. Aggie caught him reading a language book for one of the new languages he'd been asked to learn and gave him a proper telling off. Oscar thought that she could give Mrs King a run for her money in the scary stakes. He didn't try to sneak in any work after that.

Finally he was allowed to return to work with Rose at HQ. Rose had found a combination of coding algorithms which seemed to break open the code, but hadn't managed to work out the content. After a little work they worked out how to find the original text hidden within another coding system. "Someone really didn't want us to read this information," said Rose. "It's got to be good !" she said, bouncing up and down in anticipation. Oscar was amused. He'd hardly ever seen her so excited. They ran their last filter over the text and looked at the result. "Oh !" said Rose, disappointed. It still didn't make any sense.

"Wait a minute," said Oscar. "I think I know what the problem is," he added. He applied another instruction and the text on the screen changed into a series of strange characters. Just then, Carrie came into the lab where they were working.

"Hi guys, have you found anything ?" she asked.

"Yep !" said Oscar triumphantly, pointing at the screen.

Carrie looked at it. "What is that ?" she asked, completely baffled.

"It's Cyrillic text," said Oscar, as if this was the most obvious thing in the world.

"OK," said Carrie slowly. "And ?"

"It's used to write in Russian," explained Rose.

"Actually, it's used to write quite a lot of languages," said Oscar. "It's used across Eastern Europe, north Asia and its used for some Eskimo languages too."

Rose looked interested. "Really ? I didn't know that. I thought it was just Russian."

"A lot of people think that. I did, until I learned Russian and Bulgarian," said Oscar. "It makes the sounds that those languages need. Roman text doesn't really work as well."

"OK. So what language is that ?" asked Carrie.

"Oh, sorry. It is Russian. Fortunately, I know Russian. If it was Kyrghyz or something like that, we'd have to get in some help," said Oscar, smiling.

"Kir.. what ?" asked Carrie.

"Never mind. It doesn't matter," said Oscar. Just then his phone rang. "Yes. Oh hi Dad," said Oscar checking his watch. "Yes, I haven't forgotten. It's just that we've got into the data stream and I can translate some of it now.. yes.. OK.. OK, we'll go for a break now. OK Dad, I'm going !" Oscar hung up with an exasperated huff. "Dad says I need to take a break now. No arguing," he explained.

"Suits me," said Carrie. "I've been kicking the stuffing out of a punchbag all morning. That code isn't going anywhere is it ? Come and have a break and then come back to it." She looked meaningfully at Rose.

"Oh, yes, I'm ready for a break myself too," said Rose, rather less convincingly. Oscar smiled at them both.

"Come on. Let's get a coffee," he said, laughing. "I know when I'm outnumbered."

Oscar was doubly amused when Edward joined them in the lounge area. "Are you checking up on me Dad ?" he asked.

"Yes," said Edward. "Also, I need to update you with some intelligence that's come in. Our agents in the Mediterranean region are all saying that something is being planned, but they don't know where specifically. Some small criminal organisations around the Mediterranean seem to be involved in activities which they don't normally deal in. Our central intelligence team think they might be involved in a small way with the super-criminal organisation involved with SKUL. What language was the text you've managed to decode ?"

"Russian," said Oscar.

"Oh," said Edward, looking puzzled. "Well that doesn't seem to fit. Never mind, it might be another part of the puzzle. Keep at it. I'll see you later," he said, getting up to leave. He checked his watch. "Another half hour off for you Oscar," he said, tapping his watch.

"I promise," said Oscar, rolling his eyes as his Dad left the room. He was prepared to wait. Like Carrie had said, the code wasn't going to go anywhere while they were sitting here.

Carrie excused herself because she had some special weapons training to attend. Rose sat with Oscar for the rest of him imposed break and then they returned together to the data. Oscar sat working through the translation of the data they had decrypted while Rose attempted to break into some more of the information. She succeeded and this time Oscar identified it as Italian.

"That sounds more like what your Dad was interested in," suggested Rose.

"Could be. Could all be part of the same thing," said Oscar. "It's funny Italian though. I think it's a dialect of some kind. Wait a sec, while I make a phone call." Oscar got out his mobile and hunted through the contacts list, then made a call. "Ciao Guiseppe !" Oscar rattled on in Italian for some time. Rose couldn't follow the conversation. Oscar seemed to be relating some of the text they had found to the person on the other end of the line and taking notes from what they said. "Bene. Bene. Arrivederci et grazie !" said Oscar finally hanging up.

"OK. It's Sicilian," said Oscar. "Have you got any more ?" he asked.

"No, that's the last of it," said Rose, pointing to the end of the text that was on Oscar's screen. "We've run out of data now," she added.

"Well, that's the last of my translation," said Oscar, typing in the last few words, with some annotations. "The bulk of what we found is in Russian, and as far as I can see it's a communication to an arms dealer based in Sicily, or who has a communications point in Sicily anyway. It sounds like the Russians have some arms stolen from official sources and they are offering to supply them to the group based in Sicily," he said.

"That would tie in with your Dad's intel about something happening in the Mediterranean area," said Rose. "It could be where the arms smuggling ring is based."

"Could be," agreed Oscar. He attached the original file decrypted by Rose and himself and the translation and attached them in an email to his Dad. "I think I'm done for the day. I'm tired," he admitted.

"This could be our first lead Oscar," said Rose excited. "I want to get them back for what they did to us."

"Me too," said Oscar. "If there's going to be a mission, I want to be on it but I can't even get through a whole day sitting down in front of a computer yet. I'm a liability," he said despondently, rubbing his face with his hands.

"Well, we will just have to see," said Rose, rubbing his shoulder sympathetically.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters which I have borrowed from MI High. I've moved the characters on to explore their new lives with Edward Dixon-Halliday. A fairly quiet chapter. Nobody breaks their arm one day and starts running around again the next.

"_This could be our first lead Oscar," said Rose excited. "I want to get them back for what they did to us."_

"_Me too," said Oscar. "If there's going to be a mission, I want to be on it but I can't even get through a whole day sitting down in front of a computer yet. I'm a liability," he said despondently, rubbing his face with his hands._

"_Well, we will just have to see," said Rose, rubbing his shoulder sympathetically._

Oscar was relaxing in the sitting room at home when his phone rang. It was his Dad. "Oscar, good work by you and Rose. The information you found does seem to fit in with the other intel that's been trickling into HQ. We're going to set up a mission into Sicily. We've got an insertion date which is just over a week away. I want you on the mission, but you need to get mission fit first. I've booked you a medical test next Tuesday. You need to pass the medical to get on the team." They said their goodbyes and hung up.

No pressure then, Oscar thought running his hands over his face. How was he supposed to get mission fit in a week ? It was still a struggle to get through a day sitting down. He wasn't going to be able to fight people by next week. Aggie and Simon joined him on the armchairs.

"Why the long face ?" asked Aggie. Oscar told him about the medical in one week's time.

"There's no way I'm going to be able to run, let alone fight by next Tuesday," complained Oscar.

"You might get communications point duty," suggested Simon. "Doesn't involve fighting. You just have to stay alert. I reckon you could do that by next Tuesday. Your Dad is going to want you on the team. Your language skills are going to be central."

Oscar thought about what Simon had said. "You might be right," he said, brightening up a little.

"Hey, keep your spirits up," said Simon. "You've got to keep positive if you're going to get better in time. Get plenty of rest and don't overwork yourself. You'll be fine," he encouraged.

Oscar took it pretty easy over the following days. He did some work with Rose and Carrie looking into the information which had been gathered about the location they were heading for and as much as possible about what they would be doing. Oscar did some research into the local dialect, which was quite different from formal Italian. Two days before the medical test, he got a call from the medical team saying they wanted to look at his arm and see whether they could remove the cast. He got there like shot. The opportunity to see the back of the itchy, heavy cast was too much to resist.

The medical team X-rayed his arm again to check that it had healed correctly. Satisfied that the bone had healed cleanly, they took off the cast. On his way back to the office where he was working with the others, he felt like he was floating. His arm wanted to rise up in the air all the time. It felt totally weird.

"Hey Oscar ! It's off !" called out Carrie, when he walked into the room. "Result !" she raised her hand to high-five him. Oscar lifted his left hand and they clapped hands together, grinning.

"Nice one Oscar," said Rose smiling.

"Now, I've just got to pass the medical," said Oscar.

"Well, you've been going down the gym already haven't you ?" asked Carrie.

"Yeah, I last about 10 minutes on the treadmill," said Oscar grumpily. "I've got an exercise routine for my arm from the physios, and it starts with lifting tins of soup."

"OKaaaaay. Well, I suppose you could throw them at the opposition," said Carrie.

Rose and Oscar looked at Carrie in silence. "I think that might be taking it a bit too far," said Rose.

"Hey, I'm just looking for the positive," said Carrie, shaking her hips from side to side and raising her eyebrows.

Rose turned to look at Oscar. He was trying not to smile, but losing the battle. "OK Carrie. I'll chuck soup at them," laughed Oscar. "What would you recommend ?"

"Italy ? Oh come on, it's got to be Minestrone !" cried Carrie. This time both Oscar and Rose creased up.

The day of the medical came round like lightning. With a heavy heart, Oscar turned up at the appointed time. After an hour of tests, riding an exercise bike and tests for coordination and eyesight Oscar was shattered. He sat in a medical room waiting for the results. He could hear voices outside the room, but couldn't hear what they were saying. One of the voices had the variation in tone of a Scottish accent and he guessed it must be his Dad. Could they just get it over with ? Finally a doctor and his father came into the room.

"Sorry Oscar. Didn't mean to keep you hanging on," said his Dad. "It's just we had to agree on something," he said, glancing at the doctor.

The doctor put Oscar's file on the desk with a sigh. "Well, Oscar, I am sure you have some idea already of your level of fitness ?" asked the doctor.

"You mean, I haven't got any ?" asked Oscar bitterly.

"Well essentially, yes," said the doctor apologetically. "You are just about fit to return to office based duties, but you are not fit to engage in heavy physical activity and most definitely not fit to engage in combat duties. The fracture of your left arm has healed, but only just and you have lost nearly all of the muscle tone in the arm due to its immobility. That is perfectly natural of course. In addition, your cardio-vascular fitness has not yet returned to normal. Considering the degree of injuries which you recently suffered, none of this is surprising."

"However, your coordination is relatively normal and your levels of concentration appear to be fine. You are declared fit to return to office conditions," said the doctor smiling. Oscar did not return his smile. He looked at his father.

"I knew there was no way," said Oscar. "I'm not going on this mission am I ?"

"Ah, well that was the subject of our discussion," said his father, glancing once again at the doctor. "I want to take you on the mission, but it has to be a role which you can fulfil safely. So, I'm proposing that you share the role of communications point with another agent. I want your language skills and your knowledge of the information we've found so far. You won't be leaving the comms room that we set up. You won't engage in combat and you won't be doing any physical activity."

Oscar felt like a weight had lifted from his shoulders. "I can go ?" he asked surprised.

"Yes, but you won't be running around with the others," said Edward.

"Oh, that's OK. I couldn't have expected anything better than that," said Oscar. "I don't want to put the rest of the team in danger. I don't want to be a liability," he added. "What do you mean by share the role ?" he asked.

"Well, it's a 24 hour task. You'll need to work in shifts with someone else. I haven't decided who yet. I need someone else with language skills. I'll let you know when I know," Edward explained.

The two older men stood and Oscar followed their lead. "Good luck Agent Cole," said the doctor holding out his hand. Oscar shook his hand and thanked him. "I'll see you when you get back," said the doctor. "You can start on a fitness regime to return to full duties. I'm sure it won't take you long," he said smiling.

Oscar ran back to the office to tell the others the good news. They were pleased he was going with them. "We need to keep the team together," said Carrie.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters which I have borrowed from MI High. I've moved the characters on to explore their new lives with Edward Dixon-Halliday.

"_Good luck Agent Cole," said the doctor holding out his hand. Oscar shook his hand and thanked him. "I'll see you when you get back," said the doctor. "You can start on a fitness regime to return to full duties. I'm sure it won't take you long," he said smiling._

_Oscar ran back to the office to tell the others the good news. They were pleased he was going with them. "We need to keep the team together," said Carrie. _

The rest of the week was busy for all of the team. Oscar had to train in using all of the communication equipment and was doing a crash course in the Sicilian dialect. Carrie was researching the area in which they were going to be working. Rose was looking into the types of equipment that were thought to be being trafficked through Sicily.

The day of departure arrived. The team were meeting and then splitting to get to their destination by different routes. Carrie and Rose were travelling as models on a photo shoot on the island. This would enable them to travel round to a variety of locations on the island without attracting too much attention. Edward and another agent called Luca were posing as the photographer and stylist who would accompany them. Luca spoke fluent Italian. All of them were arriving openly by plane.

Oscar and his communications partner Abe, were travelling incognito. They had to fly by cargo plane to Sicily and would unload with their equipment at the other end. Two other agents were travelling with them to set up the communications systems and then returning, leaving the two agents behind in their secret communications base. The plan was that they would have no physical contact with the others during the assignment. They were due to arrive in advance of the rest of the team.

So it was that Oscar, Abe and two technicians from MI9 found themselves squashed in the back of the cockpit of a large cargo plane. The cargo bay was unpressurised so they couldn't travel comfortably in there. Instead, they had to endure a four hour flight packed like sardines in passenger seats behind the pilot and co-pilot. The seats were normally used by the air transport company's employees accompanying special freight. Today it was housing the MI9 agents. Nobody could talk because they all had to wear ear protectors due to the noise of the engines. The vibrations of the plane's engines also made Oscar's arm and ribs ache. He longed for the plane to land so he could get off and stretch. Glancing at the others, he didn't think they were having too much fun either.

Finally, they landed at the airport near Palermo. The agents left the plane with the crew and were taken to use their facilities while the cargo was unloaded. They kept out of sight while customs documentation was dealt with by the company staff and then were taken to a warehouse to check over their equipment. Everything was loaded into the back of a van and the agents joined it. One of the company staff then drove them out to their secret base. It was a hot day and sitting in the back of a windowless van being driven at speed over bumpy, winding roads was very unpleasant. One of the technicians complained that he was about to be sick, so Oscar shouted through the small communications window that they needed to stop.

The van pulled over and they opened the back doors carefully. They were on a hillside above an olive grove. The area was deserted, so they all got out, gasping for air. The driver came round to see what the problem was just in time to see the technician vomiting in the bushes. Oscar managed to hold on to his breakfast, but he was now feeling exhausted from the physical effort of the day. All of the agents were soaked in sweat and looked tired to Oscar. He wondered what he must look like. Abe was giving him a few surreptitious looks when he thought Oscar wasn't looking. Oscar could see him in the van's wing mirror. Oscar thought he was probably worrying if Oscar was going to foul up the mission. Couldn't blame him for that. He was worrying about it himself. He hadn't even arrived at his destination yet, and he was already shattered.

After a short break and some water supplied by the driver, they all got back into the van. The driver too things a little slower from then on. Oscar thought he probably didn't want a cleaning job in the back of the van when he got back to base. Finally, the van stopped and the relieved agents climbed out of the sweltering van. Oscar stopped to look around. They were outside a dilapidated farm building of some sort near the top of a hill. The slopes below were covered with more olive groves. The sun was beating down and everything around them looked tinder dry. There was no sign of life in any direction. When he turned round, the driver had opened up a ramshackle door into the old building. They followed him inside and looked around at their surroundings. The building was actually in much better condition than it appeared from outside. The door was solid and had a functioning lock. The shutters over the windows concealed reinforced glass. They walked into a large room when they went in. It must have been the farm kitchen at one time because there was a large fireplace in one wall with a wide chimney. There were some modern cooking facilities in the corner.

Oscar walked through another door to find a room with no windows. There were a range of electrical sockets all round the wall. This was presumably going to be the communications room. He climbed the wooden stairs up to two small rooms with beds and cabinets and a fairly basic bathroom. This was much better than he had been expecting. When he heard they were going to be at a remote rural location, he had assumed they would be roughing it. This was better than most safe houses he had lived in as a child.

Oscar went out to help the others unload the equipment. There was a lot of kit and the heat didn't make the job easy. Oscar was starting to feel dizzy before they had got all the gear indoors. He apologised to the others and had to sit in the shade for a few minutes until the world had stopped spinning. He took in a little more of his surroundings. The olive groves seemed to extend in all directions around him. The burning sun reflected off the light rocks and seemed to be baking his skin. There was no sound, not even of insects. It was as if everything had decided to take the afternoon off for a nap.

Once he rejoined the others, everything had been taken indoors. The driver handed over the keys for the house and explained all the security features for the building. It had motion detectors outside, there were regular and infra-red cameras installed to see outside the building and alarms were fitted on all doors and windows.

He was impressed with how cool it was inside the building. He guessed the original builders had built extra thick walls to cope with the summer heat. That also made for extra security of course. The two technicians set to installing the equipment. Oscar decided to make himself useful and prepared them all some food and drink. The fridge had been stocked with cold drinks which he distributed amongst everyone, including the driver. He seemed surprised to be included and thanked Oscar. Tempers had been frayed by the long uncomfortable journey as well as the heat so Oscar decided the short break for food and drink was needed by everyone. He was under orders not to take too much physical exercise and realised that he had reached his limit for the day after nearly passing out from carrying equipment. It wasn't easy leaving the others to do the lion's share of the work, but he wasn't in any condition to do more. He decided he would make best use of his time talking to the driver about the local area. The driver had to wait until the two technicians had finished because he had to return them to the airport for their return journey.

Oscar asked him about the building they were using. When he realised that Oscar could speak the local dialect he instantly relaxed and started explaining how his agency had found the building and set it up as a safe house a couple of years previously. It had only been used once or twice, usually for people hiding from the local Mafia. Oscar asked if there were any people living locally and the man told him that there were a couple of remote farm houses on the hill, but they had never seen any of the occupants. Apart from during the olive harvest, which was not due for another month or so, the hills were deserted. Oscar asked if they would be seen if they walked about outside, the man suggested it would be best to stay in during the day to avoid anyone seeing them and also because the heat was so great, it was unbearable anyway. Oscar laughed and agreed that was a good plan.

Then Oscar asked him if he knew anything about the trafficking operations which were believed to be going on. The man became quite animated at this point. His main complaint seemed to be that it was bad enough dealing with the local Mafia, without any even bigger thugs muscling in on the action. He said that there had always been some kind of smuggling going on through Sicily because it was a staging post between Africa, the Middle East and the rest of Europe. The recent developments seemed somehow to be better organised and more ruthless. When people disappeared, they were never found again; dead or alive. Oscar got the feeling that the man preferred the sort of villain you could rely on. The man asked Oscar what he had to defend himself with. Oscar picked up a tin of soup from the table and pointed to it. The man tapped the side of his forehead. "Inglese" he laughed.

Finally, the two technicians announced that they were finished and wanted to give Oscar and Abe a run-through on the equipment. They showed the agents where everything was and explained how it would all work together. They had also rigged up a make-shift self-destruct. In the event of an emergency, Oscar or Abe would be able to trigger a self-destruct which would wipe all the systems' memory and make the equipment unusable.

"It won't be a big explosion," said one of the technicians apologetically. "It'll just sort of fizz a bit and stop working. Don't stand too close though," he added. "Nasty fumes. Health and Safety. You know," he trailed off.

Abe and Oscar looked at one another. "We don't normally have issues with Health and Safety," said Abe. "But I'll bear it in mind if anyone is shooting at me. I wouldn't want to get a nasty cough."

The technician looked at Oscar. "How did you get injured then ?" he asked.

Oscar shrugged. "Got caught in an booby-trap explosion. Ceiling fell on top of me," he explained. The technician looked at Oscar and then at the equipment.

"Oh. Well, stand right next to it if you want to," he said. Oscar laughed and held out his hand, thanking the men for their work. They both shook hands with him and smiled finally.

"Are you going straight back ?" asked Oscar.

"God, I hope not," said the technician.

"Hey, you come back with me and I get you bottle of wine and dinner. You have to stay in the aircraft hanger, but you can fly back tomorrow," said the driver. The two men agreed readily and thanked him. They headed off, leaving Oscar and Abe on their own.

"Guess we'd better sign in then," said Oscar. "Shall I go first shift ?" Abe shrugged and nodded. "You might as well initiate the security," suggested Oscar.

Abe nodded. "Suits me," he said. Oscar went into the comms room, logged on and let HQ know that they were safely installed.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters which I have borrowed from MI High. I've moved the characters on to explore their new lives with Edward Dixon-Halliday.

"Guess we'd better sign in then," said Oscar. "Shall I go first shift ?" Abe shrugged and nodded. "You might as well initiate the security," suggested Oscar.

Abe nodded. "Suits me," he said. Oscar went into the comms room, logged on and let HQ know that they were safely installed.

Edward Dixon-Halliday received a call as he was walking into the airport with Rose, Carrie and Luca. "Agent Dixon-Halliday, we have received a contact from Agent Cole. The communications team is installed in their base now and ready for your arrival," said the voice.

"Thanks. I'll contact you when we've arrived," said Edward. "Oscar and Abe are set up and ready for us," he told the others. They nodded. They were pushing two trolleys piled with luggage. Their cover allowed them to take a load of camera equipment, and supposedly a large amount of clothes for their fashion shoot. Some of it was clothing, but the rest was holding further spy equipment. Security were expecting them, so their stuff was whisked through without questions.

Rose and Carrie had dolled themselves up to look the part of fashion models. Carrie was wearing such dark sunglasses that she was having difficulty finding her way through the airport. "I can't read the signs in these things," she complained.

"I think you're wearing the new night vision glasses," said Rose.

"Huh ?" Carrie took them off and looked closely. "Oh yeah. Thought they were rubbish," she said, tucking them into her handbag. "Guess I'll have to start looking cool when we get there. Wonder what I did with my sunglasses."

"You're in the right place to buy another pair if you want," suggested Edward. "You're going to need a pair when we get to Sicily."

"Good point," agreed Carrie. She dragged Rose with her into a sunglasses shop. Edward and Luca watched them go and Edward sighed.

"Do you think all women are like that ?" he asked.

"All the ones I've met are," said Luca. "Let them have a bit of fun. It could get pretty dirty once we start work."

Soon the field team were winging their way to Sicily. Carrie had hoped they would be travelling first class, but had been disappointed to find herself in Economy with everyone else. "Didn't you know there's a recession on in the fashion industry," said Luca grinning. "We've got to economise."

At the main airport in Palermo it took a while to collect all of their bags. Special arrangements had been made to ensure their equipment made it through, so they got a few searching looks from the uniformed officers in the customs area. They were obviously curious, but Edward and the others kept quiet and simply gathered all the bags and piled them on to trolleys. They went to the car rental desk, where two cars had been pre-booked for them. Edward signed and they left the airport to collect the cars. One was a van with room for the equipment and the other was a large four-wheel drive vehicle. They split between the two cars and Carrie pulled a map from her bag. "Head east on the dual carriageway," she instructed Luca. He looked surprised but did as he was told. He checked that Edward and Rose were following in the van and set off as instructed.

They drove for over an hour on hot dusty roads which became steadily narrower and less busy. Eventually they came to a small town on the coast. Carrie directed Luca through the narrow, winding streets to a building on the outskirts. "This is our villa," she told him. She jumped out to open the gate for the cars and was stunned by the heat. It was burning hot outside the air-conditioned vehicle. "Wow. It's hot !" she said, jumping back in.

"Yeah, I should have told you," said Luca. "Never visit Sicily in August. The heat is unbearable." Carrie gave him a withering look.

"If only I'd known," she said. "I would have booked a winter assignment." Luca grinned. He was starting to like Carrie a lot.

They parked the cars in front of the villa. Edward insisted that they check out the building first. It was an ordinary holiday let and he wanted to be sure the place was secure. Edward, Luca and Rose went through the building. Carrie opted to check out the garden and car shelter. There wasn't a garage, but there was a shaded shelter to park the cars underneath. She could see the point of this as soon as they reopened the car doors. Heat spilled out of the cars after sitting in the baking sun for 10 minutes. They unloaded all of the equipment into the house and then moved the cars under the shade.

The four agents got themselves drinks from the stocked fridge and sat round the kitchen table.

"Right," said Edward. "We've got limited intel and no locations to check out. We need to get some leads to get us started. Suggestions ?" he asked. Rose and Carrie looked at each other.

"I only know a few words of Italian," said Rose. "I could order a meal or buy some shopping, but that's about it."

"Me too," said Carrie. "Why don't we go to the supermarket and get some food. We're going to need it anyway. We can ask if there's a Tourist Information Office or something."

"Tourist Information ?" said Rose. "What are you going to say, 'Oh do you happen to know where the international crime organisation is based please ?'" she said sarcastically. "I'd really like to visit."

"No, clever-clogs," said Carrie annoyed. "I'm going to ask where the local harbours are, and if there are any interesting caves or underground wine cellars and things where we could get some interesting fashion photos taken dummy !"

"Oh. Sorry," said Rose. "I didn't think of that. Good idea," she added. Carrie smiled at her.

"I like to think out of the box," she said.

"Good thinking Carrie," said Edward. "There's a good chance any Tourist Information place might speak English too."

"Exactly," agreed Carrie.

"Luca, you're the only fluent Italian speaker here," said Edward. "You're going to have to do the lion's share of information gathering. I'm pretty ropey in Italian, but I can get by on the basics. What do you think would work best here ?" he asked.

Luca stroked his chin. "We need to go drinking," he said with a grin. Edward gave him a look. "No, seriously, if we want to get the men round here to talk, we have to get them drunk, and we have to get drunk with them. Just not quite as drunk," said Luca. "Let's ask around to find out where the local bar is and hole up there tonight." Edward shrugged.

"It's a plan," agreed Edward. He looked at his watch. "What time do the shops shut ?" he asked.

Luca looked at his watch. "Oh, they'll just be opening. They close in the afternoon in the summer. Too hot for shopping. If the girls go now, they'll get what they want," he added. "We can start setting up the stuff here while they're out." The others agreed and Rose and Carrie gathered their things together to go out.

Rose teetered downstairs in a pair of very high heels. "Do we have to wear these ridiculous shoes ?" she demanded. Carrie looked at her and laughed.

"Well I'm wearing flats. Stuff this fashion lark. I don't want a twisted ankle on the first day," said Carrie.

Rose looked at her shoes and then at Carrie's smart, but more comfortable sandals. "Good point," she said. "Back in a minute."

After a couple of minutes, Rose came back downstairs, much more quickly this time, in a pair of sandals. "Thank God for that," she said. "Those things are crippling ! I don't know how models do it."

"Well, I don't think they have to do much combat duty," said Carrie, putting on her new sunglasses. Rose giggled.

"Come on. Let's get started," said Rose. "We've got to find these people." The two agents left the villa and headed into town.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters which I have borrowed from MI High. I've moved the characters on to explore their new lives with Edward Dixon-Halliday. The team start work. The key to successful writing is not to let your cursor drift over the "Delete Story" button on the website. Yarg !

"_Thank God for that," she said. "Those things are crippling ! I don't know how models do it."_

"_Well, I don't think they have to do much combat duty," said Carrie, putting on her new sunglasses. Rose giggled._

"_Come on. Let's get started," said Rose. "We've got to find these people." The two agents left the villa and headed into town._

The two girls attracted quite a bit of attention in the small town. They didn't see anyone else with any skin colour except the local mediterranean olive. Realising that they had no hope of blending in with the locals, they both acted as foreign as they could, saying 'Good Afternoon' to everyone they met. Carrie asked people for 'Supermarket' and they were pointed to the centre of the town. Feeling hot and sweaty after only a short walk, they found a fair sized shop selling all kinds of groceries. They chose fresh fruit and vegetables, bought some fish, pasta, bread and other groceries. The girl at the till didn't take to them at first, but after a lot of pointing, a few words of Italian and much giggling she began smiling with them.

Carrie asked for 'Informazione Turista' hoping that she had got the words right. The girl nodded and walked out of the door with them. She pointed up the hill, counted to two on her right hand and then gestured to the right. The two agents thanked her as best they could in broken Italian. Carrie gave her a hug for good measure. The girl laughed and waved them goodbye. Lugging their carrier bags Carrie and Rose started up the hill as directed. It was hard going. The shiny cobbles were radiating the still hot afternoon sun back in their faces. After the relative cool of the local store, they were now boiling again. "We have got to find some shade !" said Carrie.

At the second road on the right they turned the corner and were suddenly in the shade of the buildings on their right. They both breathed a sigh of relief. Up ahead they saw some sort of civic office building and headed towards it. Stepping inside the cool marble hallway Carrie took off her sunglasses so she could see properly. There were a few stands with maps and brochures and hotel booklets. A handsome young man behind the desk greeted them in Italian. Then he paused and said, "You are English, yes ?"

"How did you know ?" asked Carrie.

"Well, you are not from round here," laughed the young man. "How can I help you ?"

"We are looking for information," said Rose, all business. Carrie shot her a warning glance. "Sort of tourist information," explained Rose. The man looked at her, puzzled. Carrie gave an exasperated sigh.

"We're on a fashion shoot," explained Carrie. "Our photographer asked us to find out whether there are any interesting locations locally where we can take some photos. You know, picturesque harbours, hilltop views that sort of thing. Oh, and he's got a real thing at the moment for underground caves and tunnels and that sort of thing," she trailed off.

"Archeological sites too," said Rose. Carrie looked at her questioningly. Rose shrugged her shoulders.

"OK. Well, there are a lot of harbours all round the island," said the man, reaching for some maps and leaflets. He took a pen and circled some locally. If you want caves, there are also plenty. I will mark these with a 'C' for you. There is one vineyard locally which uses some underground wine cellars. Those might be interesting for photography. There are many unmarked tunnels in the mountainsides. They are usually old lava tunnels created by the volcanic activity," he added. "Oh and this leaflet describes many of our wonderful archeological treasures," he said handing Rose a small booklet with a smile.

"Can I buy a map off you please ?" asked Carrie.

"Yes sure. This is probably the best for you," suggested the man, handing Carrie a large folding map. "It is very detailed." Carrie paid him for the map and thanked the man for his help. "Good luck with your photography," said the man. He opened the door for them as they left. He gave Rose an extra big smile as she left.

"What are you thinking about Rose ?" asked Carrie as soon as they were out of earshot. "How many criminal organisations do you know that run out of Roman ruins, for heaven's sake."

"Well, it doesn't hurt to ask," said Rose. "Sicily has some of the best ancient sites in the world."

"Yeah, well that's not actually what we're here for," Carried reminded her. "You can book a holiday here next year if you want."

"We might never be able to come here again by the time we've finished," said Rose, grumpily.

"Fair point," agreed Carrie. "I think he fancied you," she added. Rose just rolled her eyes.

They hauled their booty back to the villa, collapsing in the cool of the kitchen as soon as they got back. Carrie put bottles of water into the fridge to cool down, along with their fresh goods. Rose was gulping down cool water gratefully. Edward came in to see how they had got on. He looked at the two young women, coated in sweat and dust.

"OK. Well that was the stroll to the deli over with. You must be ready for some serious combat action now," said Edward, teasing.

Rose groaned. "Oh God ! We've got to do a mission in this heat ! It's going to kill me."

Luca joined them. "What did you get ?" he asked.

Rose and Carrie tossed their leaflets and maps on to the kitchen table. Luca picked up 'Ancient Treasures of Sicily' and looked puzzled. "Why do you think they will be hiding in Roman ruins ?" he asked. Rose hastily grabbed that one back.

"Just interested," she said, blushing.

Luca and Edward looked over the map marked with harbours and caves. "I think caves are good," said Luca. "Working underground would have many advantages."

"SKUL always work underground," said Carrie in an exasperated voice. "They love tunnels. I wish I had a pound for every flaming tunnel I've crept around. Oscar hates them."

"The man at the tourist information place said there are lots of old lava tunnels running through the mountains," said Rose.

"Yes, but there are hundreds. We need to narrow it down," said Luca. "This is a good start. We need to work on finding out if people have seen anything odd locally tonight." Edward agreed.

"I've spoken to Abe this afternoon," said Edward. "He and Oscar have been listening for any unusual traffic over the radio. Oscar picked up one coded transmission last night and they are working on decoding it. They'll let us know as soon as they get into it."

"Why don't they send it on and we can have a look at it too," suggested Rose.

"Good idea," agreed Edward. "Might as well, while we're quiet. I'll get back on to Abe. Oscar is taking the late afternoon to night shift. Abe is doing early hours to late afternoon. That way they both get a bit of night time sleep, when it's cooler."

Abe transmitted the coded message through and Rose loaded it on to her laptop. Carrie and Luca made them all a meal and then Carrie and Rose settled down to look at maps and work on the encrypted message. Once it was dark, Edward and Luca set off into town to look for a busy local bar.

Carrie and Rose had gone to bed when they heard the two men coming in. They banged the door shut rather loudly. The two women went downstairs to find out how the men had got on. They both looked very drunk. Edward was trying to untie his shoe laces by randomly pulling at ends. Rose took pity and helped him get them off. They joined Luca in the kitchen who was pouring himself a glass of water.

"How did it go ?" Carrie asked them.

"Well, the local wine would strip paint off the walls," said Edward. His voice sounded hoarse. "The brandy isn't much better. God, I'm drunk," he said, sitting down.

Luca sat down too and rested his head on the table. "I threw away half of my drinks into the harbour and I am still completely trashed. How do those guys do it ? Half of them will be up before dawn to go fishing," he groaned.

Rose appeared with her laptop booted and ready to go. "I think you two had better tell us everything you found out now, because I don't know if you are going to remember anything in the morning," she said. Edward pulled a small device out of his pocket.

"I recorded everything," he said, with a loud belch. Luca also pulled a recording device out of his pocket.

"Me too," he said.

"Good. We can get Oscar and Abe to translate it for tomorrow," said Rose. "Now, you tell me what you can remember please ?" She waited. Edward started snoring. Carrie had to feel sorry for the two men. After all, they had only got plastered in the line of duty. They helped the two men get up to bed.

Carrie sent off the files from the listening devices to Oscar who was now on duty. She had a quick chat with him to ask how he was getting on. He reassured her he was fine and told her to be careful. He wasn't used to being separated from the rest of the team. She promised him they'd be fine and signed off.

She headed back to bed along with Rose. They passed Edward and Luca's room from which they could hear loud snoring. "Should be quiet tomorrow morning," said Carrie. Rose laughed and agreed.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters which I have borrowed from MI High. I've moved the characters on to explore their new lives with Edward Dixon-Halliday. 10% inspiration, 90% perspiration.

_Carrie sent off the files from the listening devices to Oscar who was now on duty. She had a quick chat with him to ask how he was getting on. He reassured her he was fine and told her to be careful. He wasn't used to being separated from the rest of the team. She promised him they'd be fine and signed off. _

_She headed back to bed along with Rose. They passed Edward and Luca's room from which they could hear loud snoring. "Should be quiet tomorrow morning," said Carrie. Rose laughed and agreed._

The next day, Rose and Carrie surfaced to find a message file returned from Oscar. He had spent his night translating Edward and Luca's conversations with the men in the local bar. "I wonder what it's like listening to your Dad get totally drunk," said Rose. She and Carrie were reading Oscar's transcript while eating breakfast in the kitchen. "I can't imagine my Dad ever getting drunk. He's always in control," she added.

"They might have been drunk, but they definitely got these guys talking," said Carrie. As the transcript went on, it was clear that tongues were loosening. "Wow, what it this ?" she asked, homing in on one piece of text at the same time as Rose. The both leaned in to the computer screen. Rose swapped to voice and they could hear Oscar's voice providing a simultaneous translation. It was weird hearing his voice coming out of the computer when he wasn't there.

"People have disappeared, you know ? The Albertis went fishing down at St. Christopher's Bay, and they never came back. Their boat disappeared too. No sign of it. Tonio said he's never going fishing down there again. He heard weird noises coming from the caves. He's convinced there are evil spirits pulling the fishermen in there. Nobody will go fishing round there any more. Luca asks if it could be the Mafia. No it's not the Mafia. The Mafia always make sure people find the body, as a warning. This time, no bodies."

Rose paused the file. "Where's that map Carrie ? We need to find St. Christopher's Bay," she said. Carrie grabbed the map and they started working round the coast trying to find the right bay.

"Here !" said Carrie. She took out a red highlighter pen and marked the bay with a cross. Rose turned on the audio again.

"Hm. General drunk stuff. Girlfriends. Somebody's wife having it off with the guy at the Tourist Information Office. Don't suppose you're interested in that," they could hear Oscar muttering. Rose and Carrie looked at each other in shock.

"I told you the guy fancied you !" Carrie said to Rose. Rose blushed bright red.

"Come on. Stop messing about," said Rose, turning up the volume slightly and frowning at Carrie.

"If you want great caves you should try the ones on the other side of St. Saviour. They're big and the light is quite good by the entrances. You should get some good pictures there. You want to get those girls to, erm, yeah, hm stuff..." Oscar was muttering. Rose and Carrie looked at each other. "I bet that little dark one could, oooh no ! No way !"

"I'm kind of glad I wasn't there," said Carrie.

"Well, they probably wouldn't have said these things, whatever they are, if we were there," said Rose. "Do you want me to pause it ?" she asked.

"No. The guys went to the trouble. We've got to listen to it," said Carrie. "I think Oscar has already censored out the worst of it."

"Okay, finally. The best views on the island are from the top of Aristotle Hill. You get a good view of Etna behind you. She's smoking a lot at the moment and she looks pretty spectacular. Then there is the sea on the other side. You could get lots of great photos. You could try there. Caverns ? Well, the Fascists holed up in the volcanic tunnels round the other side of the island. Laughing. Only don't go too far in, you know what I mean ? Gets pretty hot down there. I went down when I was a kid. They said that one of the Fascists got burnt to a cinder when he took a wrong turning and fell through the floor of the cave into a lava pool. Don't know if it was true or not. I think they told the story to stop us kids going down there."

"Are you the only visitors around ? Well, not many people come at this time of year because it's so hot. It's OK if you have a sleep in the afternoon and start work in the evening. We fish at night anyway, so it's not a problem. I've seen a couple of boats coming in at night and disappearing. Don't know where they went. Guess they were tourists. Didn't see anyone I know and they weren't boats from round here. Where ? Just round the coast from here. Why, you going fishing now ? Laughing."

"Ooh. Boy are they drunk ! Luca is trying to down three shots in one go. They're all chanting. He's asking who has wine cellars. They all think this is funny. Hasn't he had enough to drink already ? I think they like him. Dad's gone pretty quiet. I think he's wasted. Oh, there are wine cellars up at the old Villa Nobile. The villa has a small vineyard, but they think the wine is terrible. They're saying not to touch it. OK, now they're just saying bye and stuff and wishing Dad and Luca good luck for the photography. And they'd like to, ooh yuk. Hm. Well, that's it I think. Good luck hunting down the villains !" said Oscar's voice. Carrie and Rose smiled at the disembodied voice. They missed Oscar.

Just at this point, Edward made an appearance in the kitchen. He looked dreadful. "Oscar translated it ?" he asked hoarsely. The girls nodded. Edward went to the fridge, took out the water jug and poured himself a large glass of water. He sat down with the girls. "Anything useful ?" he asked.

"Yes, one good lead and some other possibles," said Rose. "How's the head ?" she asked.

"I think someone is drilling for oil in it," said Edward. "I'll get over it. Luca's still asleep. I thought I might as well leave him. I'll listen to the transcript again. I couldn't understand everything that was being said last night," he said. Carrie and Rose said they would go and get washed and dressed while he was listening to it. Carrie pushed the marked up map towards Edward. He seemed to be trying to move his head as little as possible.

When Carrie and Rose came down again, Edward was finishing listening to the recording and Luca was sitting with his forehead on the kitchen table, holding a glass of water in his hand. "You should have some breakfast," said Edward. "It helps with the hangover." Luca mumbled something inaudible into the table.

"Do you want us to make you a fry-up ?" asked Carrie. She could have sworn that Edward turned green. Luca just groaned.

"No thanks Carrie. We need to start looking at locations to visit," said Edward.

"Seriously, are you two up to it ?" asked Carrie. The two men nodded and winced.

"We've got to get moving. These people could be moving weapons out right now. We've got to stop them," said Edward.

"We've got to kill off the whole organisation," said Rose. "We're not going to do that today. We have to find out more information. Otherwise we're just going to cut off one part of the organisation. The Head wanted us to kill off the whole network didn't she ? We've got to use our brains." Edward looked at her with some respect.

"Good point Rose. What do you think we should do next then ?" Edward asked her.

Rose stopped to think. Edward had put her on the spot and she was a bit embarrassed. "Well, I think we should at least consolidate our cover and be seen taking some photographs," said Rose. "If we dive straight into the locations the locals were mentioning, it's going to look fishy straight away. Why don't we go for one of the most obvious locations, take some photos for everyone to see and use the opportunity to check out the wider landscape. It will also give you two a chance to recover before we get into any trouble," she said. "You look worse than Oscar did," she added.

Edward and Luca both looked up at her with pained expressions. "Do we really ?" asked Luca. Rose and Carrie both nodded.

"OK. Let's go with Rose's plan. At least we'll have something to show for the day," said Edward. "We can test out the comms too. We might need it later."

The four got ready and loaded the four-by-four with their camera equipment and a set of costumes for Carrie and Rose. They settled on the scenic hilltop recommended by the locals with the view of Etna in the background. It took an hour to get there by winding, dusty roads. Once there, the views were spectacular. As they offloaded their equipment at a likely spot, Edward started a conversation with Abe who was working the communications. Edward got Abe to pinpoint their location using the satellite system. This worked correctly. He got all the team to split up and test their personal headsets. These consisted of almost invisible earpieces and a tiny black dot stuck to their collar bone which was the microphone. It all worked perfectly. Everyone could hear everyone else. Abe reported that he was picking up everyone and the recording system was also working.

Getting down to business, Rose and Carrie put on some of their outfits, and Edward and Luca took shots with interesting backgrounds. Carrie felt like an idiot balancing on rocks wearing tiny frocks and silly shoes, trying to look interesting. Rose didn't seem to be enjoying herself any more either. As they staggered past one another going back and forth to the car, Carrie grimaced at Rose. "You'd rather be sitting in front of a computer wouldn't you ?" asked Carrie. Rose rolled her eyes.

"What would you rather be doing then ?" Rose asked Carrie.

"Just about anything," said Carrie, nearly twisting her ankle in the high heels. "Give me strength !"

While the girls were changing back into their regular clothes, Edward and Luca took some panoramic shots and carried out scans using some high tech gadgets disguised as cameras. "Why don't we go back down to the coast road and take some shots of the areas the fishermen were talking about last night," suggested Luca. "We'd just be scouting the locations wouldn't we ?" Edward agreed. They loaded up the car and explained to the two women what they were planning to do.

Down on the coast road, they found some of the bays which the fishermen had mentioned and took some shots of the coast. Rose used the disguised cameras to carry out scans. Carrie marked up the map where they found any interesting results. Just before they packed away their equipment at the end of the trip, Edward turned away from the coast and on a whim decided to photograph the mountains behind him. He took several shots, doing little more than focus the camera, and then packed away the last of the cameras into the car. It was a relief to everyone to be back in the cool of the villa.


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters which I have borrowed from MI High. I've moved the characters on to explore their new lives with Edward Dixon-Halliday. Oh, you mean the top secret police safe house on the hill ?

_Down on the coast road, they found some of the bays which the fishermen had mentioned and took some shots of the coast. Rose used the disguised cameras to carry out scans. Carrie marked up the map where they found any interesting results. Just before they packed away their equipment at the end of the trip, Edward turned away from the coast and on a whim decided to photograph the mountains behind him. He took several shots, doing little more than focus the camera, and then packed away the last of the cameras into the car. It was a relief to everyone to be back in the cool of the villa._

Oscar woke up in the late morning. He made himself and Abe some food and then decided to go out to get some exercise. He needed to get himself back to full fitness. After some arm exercises using tins of soup by the kitchen table, he took a controller to disable the house security and headed outside. He stuck on a baseball hat to keep the sun off his face.

It was scorching hot already and it wasn't even midday. Oscar was glad to be outdoors though. He was starting to get cabin fever being locked in the house for such long hours, listening over the communications system. He was more used to active field work. He walked away from the house and restarted the defence systems using his remote. He stuck the remote in his small backpack and started to jog gently through the olive groves. It wasn't easy due to the heat and the amount of vegetation which was struggling to grow between the trees. He could hear insects buzzing and chirruping around him. At least there was something to listen to.

After a while he thought he saw a movement ahead and to one side. He was instantly on his guard, slowing to a walk and looking ahead and behind him. Nothing. Then he saw a couple of very bright brown eyes looking at him from behind some rocks. It was a small boy of maybe six or seven. Oscar smiled at him and said 'Hello' in Italian. The boy turned and ran away from him, trying to scramble over one of the many terraces running across the hillside. He missed his footing and fell awkwardly. Oscar ran over to him, jumping down the terrace and asking him if he was alright. The boy sat on the ground, hugging his ankle. He looked scared. Oscar took off his backpack and tried to reassure the boy. He found a small energy bar and offered it to the boy. The boy took it and tore the paper off before eating it. Oscar smiled and pulled out his first aid kit. There was one elasticated bandage which he used to strap up the boy's ankle which was starting to swell. It looked like he had twisted the ankle.

Once he'd finished, Oscar got the boy to stand and try his ankle, but it was obviously too painful to walk on, so Oscar offered him a piggy-back ride home. The boy grinned and hopped onto Oscar's back. He had to sling his backpack over one arm, but fortunately the boy was quite light. After a few minutes the boy got very chatty, directing Oscar back to his home. His family lived in a small farmhouse in the olive groves. Oscar was getting tired quickly. The heat was intense and the boy's weight rubbed against some of the scars on his back. The boy directed him to particular points in the terraces where there was a kind of stone ladder to climb down more easily. It was exhausting work though in the burning heat.

Sweating and panting Oscar was suddenly brought to attention by the boy talking about 'the men in the night'. Oscar asked him who he meant. The boy, whose name was Marco, told him that his family had seen big lorries and cars going backwards and forwards up the mountain roads in the night. His father had told him these were bad men and he was to keep away from them. Oscar asked him where they went and the boy told him they were probably going to the old tunnels further up the hillside. The boy asked him if he was staying in the 'special house' the police had made on the slope. Oscar thought it was funny how they had gone to so much trouble to be secretive and this little boy knew exactly what was going on. He couldn't see the point in lying. Why else would he be wandering around this boy's land in the middle of the day. He laughed and told the boy that he was staying in the police house and would he please not tell anyone. The boy promised that he wouldn't.

Oscar was very pleased to see a farmhouse and some outbuildings coming into view. He was shattered to the point that he was starting to feel faint. As he neared the building a woman came running out, calling to the boy. Marco smiled and waved to her and this instantly reduced her obvious anxiety. "Marco, what have you done ?" she asked in the local dialect.

"I think he has twisted his ankle," said Oscar, setting the boy down as carefully as he could. He staggered slightly as he bent down and the boy pulled at his top, revealing some of his back. The woman gasped in horror. Oscar realised belatedly that his back was probably still quite scarred from the explosion. He pulled down his top and abruptly sat down on the ground, waves of dizziness coming over him. The woman called out behind her and a man came out to join her.

The two adults helped Oscar up and supported him into the cool of the barn. They sat him on a crate and the woman disappeared into the house, returning with a jug and glasses. She poured out drinks for Oscar and Marco, all the while scolding Marco for getting himself hurt.

After several glasses of cold water and a rest in the cool, Oscar was feeling much better. The man thanked him for helping Marco. The boy's mother had got him sitting on the ground with his swollen ankle in a bowl of cold water. This did seem to be bringing down the swelling a little. Marco was cheerfully telling his parents that Oscar was staying in the police house up the hill. Oscar must have looked worried at this point, because the man laughed and said not to worry. They wouldn't tell anyone he was there. Their boy could have died out in the heat of the day and they were very grateful to Oscar for helping him.

Shyly, the woman pointed to Oscar's back and asked him how he had got hurt. Oscar shrugged and said there had been an explosion. He didn't go into details, but the two adults nodded gravely. Oscar glanced at his watch, and said he needed to be on duty soon. Oscar shook hands with Marco and told him to be careful. Marco told Oscar to watch out for the bad men on the hill. Oscar promised that he would. Marco's parents wished him good luck and watched as he slowly made his way back up the hill to the safe house. Oscar wondered just how many people knew about the supposedly safe house.

In the late afternoon, Oscar arrived to take over from Abe in the communications room. Abe didn't seem to notice how tired Oscar was. Abe briefed Oscar on what the field team had been doing that day. They were heading back to base to go through what they had collected. Abe stretched and yawned. "I hope things pick up soon," he said. "It's hard to keep concentrating when there's nothing happening. I'm going out for a walk. I need some exercise. See you later," he said.

"OK, be careful and keep your head down," said Oscar.

Abe gave his a sideways look, smirked and said, "Don't worry. I will."

After he had gone, Oscar realised he had forgotten to tell Abe about the incident with the boy. He could tell him when he came back on duty. Abe probably already thought he was compromising the mission just by being there.

Oscar signed on to discover the field team had returned to their villa. His father asked him how things were going up at the communications base. Oscar told Edward about the incident with Marco and his family. He told him about the lorries and vans going up the hill and that Marco thought they were using tunnels higher up the mountain.

"I don't believe it !" exclaimed Edward. "What are the chances that we'd put the secret communications centre smack bang near the gang's base ? Just typical that all the locals know about the safe house too !" he said frustratedly. "I wonder if we should pull you out."

"I think that would give us away completely," said Oscar. "We might as well lie low now and maybe everyone will think we are Mafia targets in hiding."

Edward reluctantly agreed. "OK, but I want you both to stay in during darkness. Don't try and investigate this. We'll do the field work. I need to know I've got you at base keeping everything together for us. Abe doesn't seem to be getting anywhere breaking into that transmission you found. Can you work on it for a while please ?" Edward asked. Oscar promised that he would and they closed the communication.

Edward returned to the kitchen where Rose and Carrie were marking up the map with any interesting details they had found and Rose was writing up mission files with progress. Luca was going through the camera and scanner files and passing anything useful to the women to update e map and mission files. Edward passed on the information that Oscar had just given him. The others looked at one another in surprise. "I don't believe it !" said Rose. "Right next to the comms base ?"

"Do we need to move Oscar and Abe ?" asked Carrie, concerned.

"I thought about that, but Oscar persuaded me that it would just draw attention to our mission. I'm going to leave them there for now. Let's see if we've got anything and see how it fits with what Oscar has told us. The people on the hill might just be local Mafia smugglers. We don't know if they are involved in the weapons smuggling," said Edward.

Luca looked up from his camera at this point. "Our intel suggested that the weapons ring had more or less taken over in the hierarchy here," he said. "I don't think they would let any other smaller group carry on activities outside their control." Edward nodded in agreement.

"That makes sense. I think you're right," said Edward.

Luca looked back to his camera files. "Nearly finished," he said. "Woah. What have we here ?" The others looked up as Luca loaded a file on to his laptop for them to look at. "See that ?" he said, pointing to a photograph Edward had taken of the local hillsides from the coast road.

"What am I looking for ?" asked Carrie.

"Here," said Luca, pointing to a flash of light on the hillside. "What's that doing half way up a mountain ?" The others crowded in to get a better look.

"Can we zoom in ?" asked Rose. Luca started up the photographic software and loaded the file. He expanded and zoomed the image to focus on the area where they had seen the flash of light. The camera was very high resolution, but the image was distant and eventually, all they could make out was an area of bright light reflecting off a shiny surface, surrounded by black.

"What do you think it is ?" asked Luca.

"I think it's someone watching us with binoculars while standing in a tunnel entrance," said Rose. There was a moment's silence.

"It could be a hub cap," suggested Edward.

Rose pulled over the map and worked out where the point of light had been located. She pointed to the map. "There are no roads here, or footpaths marked. There's no access to that point, and what's more, it's in a small cliff face. It has to be a cave or tunnel entrance."

They all looked at one another. "Someone's been watching us," said Luca.

"That doesn't necessarily mean they suspect us yet," said Edward. "They're just watching. It just means there's a limit to what we can do in the open. We're going to have to go covert."

"All these tunnels," said Rose speculating. "Do they join up ? One of the guys in the bar told you the Fascists used the tunnels during the war. Do you think they mapped them ? Could HQ try to find out for us ?"

Edward grinned at Rose. "Great idea Rose. Luca, can you go down to the harbour and see if you can get us a boat for tonight ? I'll get on to HQ. Rose can finish off these files for you." Luca agreed and headed out to the harbour.

By the time they had finished they had mapped all the possible locations of interest on the island map. They were quite widely spread. "Where do we start ?" asked Carrie.


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters which I have borrowed from MI High. I've moved the characters on to explore their new lives with Edward Dixon-Halliday. OK, I know. More tunnels. They're just so useful !

_By the time they had finished they had mapped all the possible locations of interest on the island map. They were quite widely spread. "Where do we start ?" asked Carrie._

Edward returned to tell them that HQ had located some wartime files on the island. They were scanning them and would send them to the team that day. Many of the old lava tunnels had been mapped by the Fascists. Luca got back to say he had arranged to borrow a boat from one of the fishermen they had got drunk with. They had been amused that he wanted to go night fishing.

"Great," said Edward. "I want to go out tonight and get a closer look at these locations where the fishermen disappeared. When the maps of the tunnels turn up we can see if there's some sort of network. Get your gear packed, prepare the villa, and then we'd better get some rest. It's going to be a long day for everyone," he added.

Oscar got a brief message from his father letting him know they would be making a covert expedition after dark. Oscar felt the brief thrill of anticipation which always came with a mission. It was a mixture of fear and excitement. Then he remembered that he was only going to be a spectator in this one and immediately dropped into anti-climax. He stretched out in his chair. His left arm was aching after carrying Marco down the hill and the scars on his back were irritated and sore. He wondered if he could ask Abe to put some ointment on them. Keeping his headset on he stuck his head out of the comms room and shouted Abe's name. There was no answer. Oscar went to look in Abe's room but it was empty. Oscar checked his watch and wondered where the other man had got to. He ought to be back by now.

Oscar checked the security system and it was enabled. Shrugging, Oscar decided Abe must have decided to have a long break. He hoped he was going to get enough sleep before he went on duty after Oscar. They couldn't risk leaving the field team unsupported. He thought Abe would have let him know if he was coming back late, but it wasn't like they were best mates or anything. In fact, they hardly spoke except at the duty exchange.

Giving up on finding Abe, Oscar decided to return to the comms room and get to work on the transmission they had intercepted. He wondered why it was proving so difficult to break. After only an hour's work he had broken into the code and translated it. The transmission was in Russian and had a fairly basic encryption. Abe should have been able to get into it, thought Oscar. The transmission described a planned handover of goods the following day. It included the date and time along with locations. This could be the breakthrough they'd been waiting for. Oscar sent it off with a priority warning to Edward and then copied it to Rose just to be sure one of them saw it.

Five minutes later he had a call from Edward. "That's brilliant Oscar. How long did it take you ?"

Oscar told him it had taken about an hour. "Oh, was it difficult ?" Oscar said it was pretty basic. "That's strange. Abe has a good decrypt rating. Wonder what came over him," said Edward. Oscar told him that Abe had gone out and hadn't yet returned. Oscar told his father that he'd forgotten to warn Abe about the activity on the mountain before he'd gone out. He hadn't expected him to take such a long break outside because it was still so hot. "Well, he's going to have to take care of himself," said Edward. "You'll have to stay on duty until he gets back. How are you doing ?" Oscar admitted that he was pretty tired, but should be alright since he would be sitting down all night.

"Good luck Dad. Go carefully, won't you ?" asked Oscar. He found it a lot harder being a spectator than a participant. He could almost hear the grin in his Dad's reply.

"We'll do our best Oscar. Take it easy !" said Edward.

It was after midnight when the field team walked silently down to the harbour. The sky was clear and a half moon illuminated the streets surprisingly clearly. The team all wore black and each carried a black backpack and toolbelt. Each of them wore their communications set so they could all hear one another and Oscar. They took care to walk in the shadows and avoid being seen by the few townspeople who were still up and about. The fishermen had already left for their night's fishing when they arrived at the small harbour. Luca located the boat they had hired and they quickly climbed in and set off. Their transport was a long, low, wooden fishing boat, still with a couple of nets rolled up at one end and two sets of oars laid along the bottom. Luca started up the small outboard motor and took them out of the harbour's walls.

"Well at least it's fairly cool," said Carrie with some relief. Rose nodded tensely.

"Any sign of Abe ?" asked Edward.

"None," said Oscar.

"OK, we're heading for the bay where the fishermen have been disappearing," said Edward. "Oscar, I need you to listen for any unusual radio traffic. Rose I want you to scan with infra-red. Carrie, I want you to scan for metal structures," he instructed. "When we round the edge of the bay, I want you to cut the engines Luca, and we'll row."

They rounded the corner of the bay and Luca cut the engines as soon as they had left the more heavy swell of the sea for the sheltered waters of the bay. Edward and Luca took up a pair of oars each and they attempted to row the boat into the shadows of the rocks and cliffs around the bay. Meanwhile Rose and Carrie scanned the shore trying to pick up any sign of activity. It was a struggle to keep their devices focussed on the shore because even on the gentle waves inside the bay, the boat was constantly bobbing up and down by several feet.

"Wait, can you stop rowing please ?" Rose asked. "Carrie, can you look over the other side, where I'm pointing my infra-red camera ? I think I'm picking up two people at the cliff's edge. Can you see anything ?"

"Trying," said Carrie. "Hm, yep, I'm getting some metal. Hard to tell what it is, but I think it's some kind of railing."

Suddenly they heard the steady thrum of a motor boat. A high speed motor launch roared into the bay, cutting back its engines and slowing as it approached the opposite side of the bay. It was carrying no lights until it had nearly reached the shore when it focussed two beams on the shore. The lights lit up a long, low jetty extending out into the water. Once it had safely docked, the lights were immediately extinguished.

"Three people getting off the boat. They're being met by the two people I saw on the shore," said Rose. Now they're moving off towards the shore. They've disappeared out of my sights," she said, continuing to scan that area of the shore. "I'm not picking up any bodies now. It looks like it's all clear. What shall we do ?" she asked.

"Let's get a bit closer," said Edward. "Carrie, can you look out for any more structures please ?" Carrie nodded and continued scanning, as did Rose. "Can you tell if we can get out on to the shore before we get there ? I don't want to leave the boat in view if I can help it," he added.

"Night vision glasses," said Carrie. She swapped her scanner for the night vision glasses. In the moonlight it was easy to make out the rocks and shingle of the shore. "Ok, about half way round the bay there's shingle and rocks all the way round to the jetty area. We should be able to make it from there without swimming," she said.

"OK, guide us to somewhere we can hide the boat," instructed Edward. Carrie directed them to the shore where there was shingle between two sets of rocks. As the boat grounded on the shingle, Luca lifted the outboard motor out of the water, Edward and Carrie jumped out into the surf and dragged the boat a little further up the beach. Then Luca and Rose joined them and they all dragged the boat beyond the reach of the waves. Luca tied the boat to a rock outcrop above the high tide mark. There wasn't much of a tidal range in the bay which made it easier. All the team put on night vision glasses and took their bearings. "We need to get back here people. Make sure you know how to find the boat," he ordered. "Come on !"

As quietly as possible, they made their way round the bay towards the boat jetty. It took over twenty minutes to find their way over the rocks and across shingle beaches to the point where they had seen the mystery people disappear into the rock of the cliffs. Eventually they reached the jetty. It ended at a concealed set of doors into the cliff face. The doors were hidden behind a rocky outcrop and would have been invisible from the sea. Rose scanned with the infra-red and found the coast clear.

The doors were locked with a keypad security system. Rose attached a device to the lock and set it to work finding the entry code. After a minute it had the numbers to unlock the door. Rose keyed them in, reading them out to the others so they could memorise them and quietly pulled the door open. It made no sound as it swung open. "Oscar, we're going into a tunnel in St. Christopher's Bay," whispered Edward. "We'll probably lose contact."

There was a well-lit corridor behind the door. It was empty. Rose took out a scanning device. All the others pulled out weapons. Edward nodded and they entered the corridor, moving swiftly and silently down its length. There was another door at the end. Rose attached a listening device to the door and fed its output into their comms devices. Voices could be heard speaking in Italian on the other side of the door. Luca started translating.

"Have the workers move the weapons out of storage. The rebels have seen the demonstration and they're ready to buy. They want to ship them out to Somalia tomorrow. Can't hear the other guy properly. Something about the others. Oh. We've got plenty of gear. There's enough for this shipment and the one tomorrow. Course they'll buy. We're the only suppliers for the long range missiles they want. They'll take the guns as well. Oh stop moaning. We'll get more. The Russians are bringing in another shipment tomorrow morning. We'll be moving them out by the evening. Get the workers moving them down to the jetty. I want them out of the way."

Luca looked at Edward. "We don't know how many of them there are," said Luca. "Shall we get out. We can come back later." Edward nodded and gestured for everyone to get back down the corridor. They ran back to the jetty door. Rose keyed the code and they ran out, shutting the door behind them. Edward who was last out, got a glimpse of the inner door opening as he shut the outer door.

"They're coming. Get out of sight !" Edward hissed to the others. They ran over the rocks along the cliff face and dived down into a cleft. They'd just made it as the outer cliff door opened and six men came out carrying crates. Another two men watched them work. They were carrying large automatic weapons which they were pointing at the men carrying the crates. They put the crates into the motor launch and then the guards hurried them back inside. They made six or seven journeys carrying the crates which were clearly heavy. The launch was much lower in the water by the time they'd finished. Finally the workmen left and one guard remained with the motor launch. Luca looked across at Edward questioningly. Edward shook his head.

"Oscar, can you hear me ?" whispered Edward.

"Yes, just," said Oscar.

"There's a motor launch loaded with weapons, which we think are headed to Somalia. It's going to leave this bay shortly. Get on to HQ and tell them to track the launch. They can intercept it at sea. We need to get inside this operation to shut it down. We've got one of the access points now. Tell HQ that we are going to need reinforcements to shut the place down. If they're using the tunnels, it's a rabbit warren."

"OK, I'll get on to them now," said Oscar.

The field team watched as a group of men came out on to the jetty. A group of North African men were shaking hands with some others. They tried to get a look through the night vision glasses, but were too far away to see faces. The North Africans got into their motor launch, fired up the engine and motored carefully across the bay. They were very low in the water and obviously didn't want to risk swamping the boat.

Oscar's voice came over the comms link again. "I've spoken to HQ. They're getting reinforcements ready. They're going to wait your instructions. They've got a fix on the motor boat and it will be stopped once they're out at sea."

"Thanks Oscar," said Edward, relaxing back a little. "We'll head back now."

"Hm, that's odd," said Oscar. "There's a lot of radio traffic suddenly."

Edward and the others started looking around them in alarm. "Near us ?" asked Edward.

"No, around me," said Oscar. "Hang on a minute." They could hear his breathing as he moved around. "Oh God no ! What's happened ?" They heard him breathing quickly as he moved around.

"Oscar, what's going on ?" asked Edward, now alarmed.

"The building's surrounded," said Oscar. "The alarm system is on but all the proximity detectors have been disabled. There's nothing to set the alarms off." He paused. "Abe !"


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters which I have borrowed from MI High. I've moved the characters on to explore their new lives with Edward Dixon-Halliday. Traitors and friends.

"_Oscar, what's going on ?" asked Edward, now alarmed._

"_The building's surrounded," said Oscar. "The alarm system is on but all the proximity detectors have been disabled. There's nothing to set the alarms off." He paused. "Abe !"_

"We've been compromised," said Oscar. "I'm going to change frequency. Carrie, your locker number at St. Hope's," he said and the comms went dead. The team looked a Carrie.

"Fifteen," she said. They all fiddled frantically with their comms systems, until they could each hear one another again. "Oscar, are you there ?" asked Carrie, sounding tense.

"Yeah, I'm here. I've swapped over to a mobile transmitter. If Abe comes in here he'll disable your comms. I need to get this transmitter out of the house so he can't sabotage it," said Oscar. He sounded slightly out of breath as if he was racing around the house. They heard a bang and a curse.

"Oscar, what's wrong ?" asked Edward.

"He's emptied the weapons locker. There's nothing here," said Oscar sounding more and more frustrated. "OK, I'm leaving the house. You guys have a backup ready don't you ?" he asked.

"Yes. We're ready," said Edward. "Good luck Oscar," he almost whispered. "Come on ! We've got to move or we'll all be compromised," said Edward to the field team. "Those swine aren't going to get away with it twice." They all turned and ran the distance to their beached boat. As if they'd practised it a hundred times they launched the boat and started making their way out of the bay. The team was motoring in more than one sense. Nobody spoke. They all had looks of grim determination on their faces.

Oscar stuffed the transmitter and its batteries into his black backpack which he strapped on. He took one last look at the security camera images. There were agents all around the house. He had no weapons. He looked round the room and smiled to himself. There were two tins of soup on the table, left there after his arm exercises. Adrenalin raced through his body, banishing any trace of tiredness. He picked up a tin of soup in each hand and walked to the door. Oscar turned off the lights and put on his night vision glasses. Taking a deep breath he flung the door open and hurled the tins of soup out across the scrub in different directions.

"Grenades !" someone screamed out. He saw bodies diving for cover all around him. Not waiting for one moment he threw himself out of the door and sprinted for the downhill slope.

Some distance behind him he could hear a familiar voice shouting, "What ? No way. He doesn't have any. Get up you idiots ! Get after him !" It only took the enemy agents seconds to realise they had been duped, but that was just enough time to get him through the cordon and away from the house. He jumped the first terrace wall, landing as lightly as he could. Recklessly, he leapt the next terrace wall the same way. It was a little higher than the first and he struggled to land and continue running. He set off to the left, still at full speed. He could hear shouting and a gunshot behind him. Determination won over his fear. Oscar had to get the transmitter hidden from view as soon as possible, somewhere it could still transmit, but not be found and destroyed. After that, well, that wasn't so important.

Two levels down and further to his left he saw a large Mediterranean oak tree growing amongst the olives. Perfect. Glancing behind him to see how close his pursuers were, he could see that they were gaining. He had to be quick so they didn't see what he was doing. He hurdled the next two terraces and ran to the big evergreen tree. He undid the clips strapping the backpack to his body, and still running swung it around his head and hurled it as high into the tree as he could. The straps snagged in the branches and the bag hung well above head height, out of easy view in the tree. Not stopping, Oscar carried on running, now trying to save himself.

Oscar's heart was pounding with the effort and his lungs were burning. His leg muscles were screaming with the effort. Gasping for breath he could hear his pursuers getting closer. They were fitter than he was. There was no way he was going to outrun them. Another gunshot rang out. He heard the bullet ricochet off the stone wall to his left. This made him swerve to his right and jump down another terrace. He heard shouting behind him and there were no more gunshots. His only chance was to hide. Marco's family farmstead was coming into view. He couldn't risk endangering the family. Oscar was running through the farmyard when he heard his name being called and a hand waved to him from the barn.

"Oscar ! Oscar ! Come here !" called a voice in Sicilian. It was Marco's father.

"No, it's too dangerous !" protested Oscar, slowing. "They could kill you all !" hissed Oscar, running closer to where the man was standing. The man reached out, grabbed Oscar and pulled him into the barn.

"Here. Hide !" instructed the man, pushing Oscar behind some wooden crates. He then dived under a pile of straw in the corner of the barn. It was too late for Oscar to do anything else now, but hide and hope. Panting heavily he tried to control his breathing so that his pursuers wouldn't hear him. Footsteps ran through the farmyard and then stopped. He could hear whispered conversations going on.

"Spread out ! Search everything ! And remember I said 'alive'," instructed a low voice. Peeking through the cracks in the crates, Oscar could see five or six men coming into the barn and starting to look into and behind everything there. Oscar was horrified when he saw one man pick up an enormous pitchfork and start stabbing into the loose straw piles. He was moving closer and closer to where Marco's father was hiding.

Oscar couldn't let the man be injured for his sake. He shifted his position and let himself scrape against the wooden boxes. Instantly all of the men dived in on his hiding place. He tried to make a break for it, but he had barely made it more than a few paces before a blow cracked across the back of his head. He fell to the ground stunned.

Hands grabbed his upper arms and he was hauled out of the barn into the farmyard. Someone pulled his night vision glasses from his face and the comms speaker from his ear. They didn't see the black dot of the the microphone on his black T-shirt. Still slightly disorientated Oscar found himself staring down into the smirking moonlit face of Abe. "Hey, Oscar, did you miss me ?" asked Abe, mockingly.

"You ….. traitor," panted Oscar. This earned him a blow across his face.

"Don't you talk to me like that ! You're barely more than a kid !" yelled Abe. Grabbing Oscar's jaw Abe pulled his face down towards him. "Daddy's going to wish he left you at home !" said Abe menacingly. Then he let go of Oscar's chin and punched him twice in the stomach. Oscar doubled up, gasping for breath, but was pulled upright again as the men holding him, secured his hands behind his back and started pushing and dragging him back up the hill. He had barely enough concentration left to realise that nobody had mentioning finding the transmitter. That gave him just enough satisfaction to get himself back up the hill without total loss of dignity. By the time he was thrown into the back of a van he was too exhausted to put up any more fight.

The field team listened to Oscar's flight and capture silently. They motored slowly into the harbour, moored the boat and ran quickly into the shadows by the buildings. "Carrie, go and check out the villa. See how many bodies they've got on the ground in the town. We'll meet you at the rendezvous," Edward whispered. Carried nodded and melted away into the deep shadows around the town's buildings. Edward and the other two made their way silently through the town to an old abandoned garage. As the others looked around to make sure they were unseen, Luca took a key from his pocket and opened a side door. The team slipped inside quickly. Inside the building, on the garage floor itself was a large, shrouded shape. Luca went to it and pulled off the tarpaulin to reveal an apparently old dusty vehicle. "It's here," he said.

Rose and Edward went to the back of the garage and entered the office. Their bags and equipment were piled inside. They grabbed bags and took them up a flight of stairs to the rooms above the garage. They spread out their stuff and Edward and Rose started to put together their own radio and computer equipment. "Shall we stay on Oscar's transmitter ?" asked Rose.

"Might as well. They didn't find it," said Edward.

Rose wanted to try and comfort him, but knew there was nothing to say. Oscar was in deep trouble and there was nothing they could do about it yet. Her jaw hardened as she started to work through plans in her head to close down the gun running ring and get Oscar out. Luca brought up the rest of their equipment and then started putting building security in place. Carrie arrived, giving Luca a shock. She gave no warning of her presence until she was standing right behind him when he turned around. "Aiee, Carrie," he hissed.

"Where's Edward ?" she asked. Luca pointed up the stairs and followed her up. She climbed the stairs two at a time. Carrie felt like a coiled spring. She was ready to destroy Abe and all his friends. "They're all over the town like a rash," reported Carrie as soon as she entered the room with Edward and Rose. "The villa is being turned over. We got out just in time." Edward nodded with grim satisfaction.

"We've got work to do," he said. "Get ready."


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters which I have borrowed from MI High. I've moved the characters on to explore their new lives with Edward Dixon-Halliday. This is when I realise I shouldn't criticise other authors for beating up their characters. Guilty as charged. Nastiness follows.

_Carrie felt like a coiled spring. She was ready to destroy Abe and all his friends. "They're all over the town like a rash," reported Carrie as soon as she entered the room with Edward and Rose. "The villa is being turned over. We got out just in time." Edward nodded with grim satisfaction. _

"_We've got work to do," he said. "Get ready."_

Edward was having a hard time coping with listening to his own son being beaten and captured over the audio link. Inside he was seething with fury. Outwardly he could only keep his face blank. The others weren't fooled for a minute. They were just as angry.

Edward connected with HQ and spoke directly with the Head of MI9. "Abe Corrigan was a double agent. He's aided in the capture of Agent Cole and the destruction of the communications base," he told her. "Agent Cole managed to set up independent communications before he was captured. We believe we are still operating secure communications and we've moved base to our backup quarters. The original quarters have also been compromised."

"Are the rest of your team secure ?" asked the Head.

"Yes. We've located one entrance into the underground facilities of the smuggling ring from St. Christopher's Bay. They appear to be using forced labour. Local people have been disappearing so this would explain where they have gone. Apparently there is another major entrance into the ring's underground facilities above the hill where the communications base was located. The mountain here is riddled with ancient lava tunnels. It is likely that the ring is using the entire network to move around the island without being seen. We can't launch an assault on our own. From information obtained by Agent Cole and from what we gathered tonight there is due to be a weapons handover with the Russians tonight. We don't know who is buying but we think the Russians are supplying," explained Edward.

"Ah yes, Agent Dixon-Halliday there is something you need to know. We have another agent inserted into the Russian supply chain. He has informed us that he is now in Sicily. If you can make contact, you have an insider. He is Agent Illya Gordovski. He has previously worked with Agents Cole, Gupta and Stewart in their junior branch. You can trust him. I am sorry about Agent Corrigan. We will investigate how he got through our recruitment procedures. We have further agents converging on Sicily. A plane will arrive in the late morning with supplies and agents. HQ will inform you of their arrival and you can direct them as you see fit. You have permission to use full force. Good luck Agent Dixon-Halliday," said the Head as she signed off.

Edward turned to his team who were standing listening. "OK. We're going to take them on this evening," he said, looking at his watch. They were now in the early hours of the morning. "I want you all to sleep. Take out your comms earpieces. Put on a hypno patch if you have to. I want everyone alert and fit," he instructed. They looked at one another, then nodded and left for their bedding rolls. Edward sighed and looked at the map of the lava tunnels. He circled several locations, made a couple of notes and then rubbed his face over with his hands. He knew he wouldn't be able to sleep for worrying about Oscar. They had lost contact some time ago, presumably when he was taken underground. Edward stared into space for a few moments, then pulled out his communications earpiece. Setting a timer, he lay down and put on a hypno patch, falling instantly asleep.

Oscar woke to the van doors being opened with a bang. He guessed he must have passed out for a while. Hands grabbed him and roughly dragged him out of the van. Whatever was coming next, it wasn't going to be good. He was so exhausted, with luck he would pass out quickly.

All too quickly he was sitting in a chair in an underground room with his hands tied behind his back. Abe came in with two men and a tall dark-haired woman. From the way she walked, he could tell that she was in charge. She stopped in front of Oscar's chair. The two heavies took up positions on either side of him. Abe stood further back, looking weirdly excited. Oscar wondered why he hadn't noticed how creepy the guy was before. He guessed he had learnt not to prejudge his co-workers.

The woman spoke. "So, Agent Cole, let's see how pretty you are now shall we ?" she said, speaking Italian. Oscar was completely shocked when she pulled out a knife and ripped it up the front and back of his T-shirt, baring his body. He looked at the new bruises on his torso, courtesy of Abe. A drop of blood fell from his face onto his thigh. The woman started to walk slowly around him, tracing the scars from the explosion with her red painted finger nails. She moved like a cat. Her touch was cold and he shivered involuntarily. "I would like to know if you passed on any information regarding our operations to your team. You will tell me now please ?"

Oscar said nothing. One of the men thumped him hard in the stomach. Oscar grunted, the air knocked out of this lungs. The woman stroked his chin. "Don't take too long Agent Cole. My colleagues enjoy their work, don't they Agent Corrigan ?" she asked Abe. Gasping for breath, Oscar looked up to see Abe dancing up and down and grinning like a Cheshire Cat. The guy was psycho ! Oscar shook his head. This earned him a rain of blows from both men to his head and body.

He felt himself losing focus, drifting into unconsciousness. Abruptly he came to as cold water was flung in his face. Spluttering he gazed through a red haze into the woman's face. Her eyes were cold. "What a shame. Not so pretty now. Perhaps you can tell us where your team's new headquarters are ?" she asked with at smile that never rose above her lips.

"Wouldn't tell you, even if I did know," muttered Oscar. Instantly his torso took another pummelling. They seemed to be avoiding his head now, realising that they had been knocking him unconscious. Falling slightly to one side he vomited uncontrollably. He noticed blood in it. The woman called for someone to clean and after a minute a small, wiry man rushed in with a mop and bucket. He glanced nervously at Oscar, but wouldn't make eye contact with the woman. He cleaned up and gave Oscar one last sympathetic glance before almost running out of the room.

The woman stood directly in front of him again. "Good. I don't want to get my new shoes dirty," she said. Without warning she lifted one foot and stamped her stilletto heel down hard on Oscar's foot. He cried out in pain. "Well, I am starting to get impatient Agent Cole. Tell me what information you have passed on. Tell me now !" she ordered, slapping him across his face. Her nails scored deep scratches into his skin. He remained silent. "Enough. Finish !" she ordered. The two men on either side laid into his head and body. Finally Oscar felt the tide of exhaustion and pain overwhelm him and he passed out.

The field team woke simultaneously in their old garage building. Carrie giggled at the rather surreal sight of all four of them sitting up in their bedrolls at the same time, blinking and yawning. Rose returned her smile. Then the memories of what had happened the night before flooded back and they all got up and ready.

They crowded round the tunnel map with Edward. He showed them the areas he had circled. "There are a few larger chambers. They must have their main groups of people in these," he explained. "There wouldn't be room to move about in most of these lava tunnels."

"One of your fishermen said something about breaking through into a lava pool," said Carrie. "What's going to happen if we use explosives in there ?" They sat silently for a moment.

"Good point," said Edward quietly. "Right, no explosives except at tunnel entrances. We're going to have to rely on gas, sedative guns and tasers."

"There are the local people they've got working for them too," pointed out Rose. "We don't want to hurt them if we can help it. And there's Oscar and Illya." She sounded anxious. Edward wondered which of the two she was most concerned about.

"This is what I want to do," said Edward. "We can't attack through all the entrances, even with reinforcements. So we're going to have to close up some entrances and concentrate our efforts on the others. I've put red crosses against the entrances I want to close. That's where we'll use the explosives. They'll be timed to go off simultaneously. Then we're going to get in through the entrance above the old comms base and the sea tunnel. My aim is to drive everyone out of the tunnels and down to the sea entrance where they can be captured by a waiting security team. Anyone see anything wrong with that ?" he asked. They thought about it.

"Those six tunnel entrances you want to close are spread right across the island," said Rose. "It's going to take a while to get round to them all. The one you photographed is in a cliff face. Do we need to close that one ? They can't get out of it can they ?" she added.

Edward pulled over the island map. "That's true. Let's cross that one off the list then," he said. "Let's just check where the others are located and see if we can eliminate any others." They located the entrances on the island map. One of the tunnels appeared to vent under the sea. "OK, that's four tunnels to close. That's a bit more manageable," said Edward. "The backup team will be bringing more explosives. I'll get them to set the charges."

"I'd like one of you to take control of the team managing the sea entrance. Luca, can you handle that for me please ? You'll need a team to go in and start an assault from there and then you'll need to withdraw and pick up the people coming out. You'll probably be best placed to separate the locals from the smugglers too," instructed Edward. Luca nodded.

A communication came through. It was the backup team which had just arrived at the airport. "Agent Dixon-Halliday. Robbins here sir. We've got twenty people, transport and equipment," said a voice.

"Excellent. Do you have boats ?" asked Edward.

"The Head has arranged a Naval ship to provide inflatable assault boats. They should be arriving off the coast in an hour. We just have to get out to meet them. We've arranged a boat to take us from the main harbour on the opposite side of the island to where you are," said Agent Robbins.

"OK, this is what I want you to do," said Edward. He then outlined his plan and agreed times and locations. He then left Luca to agree any other details regarding the sea assault. "Carrie and Rose. I want you two with me to attack the entrance above the comms base. I've got an idea how to get there as well."


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters which I have borrowed from MI High. I've moved the characters on to explore their new lives with Edward Dixon-Halliday.

"_OK, this is what I want you to do," said Edward. He then outlined his plan and agreed times and locations. He then left Luca to agree any other details regarding the sea assault. "Carrie and Rose. I want you two with me to take the entrance above the comms base. I've got an idea how to get there as well."_

That afternoon Edward drove Carrie and Rose up the mountainside towards the comms base. He was driving their dusty old bread van from the garage. It wasn't an old bread van of course. It contained medical facilities, ran on a near-silent engine, was bullet proof and was equipped with a range of weaponry. He had dropped off Luca with his equipment at his harbour rendezvous earlier. The shock-absorbers in the van took the worst of the road's lumps and bumps as they made their way up the winding mountain road. Carrie pointed to a small side track and Edward turned in. He slowed as they approached a small farmstead with house, barn and outbuildings. "This has to be the place," said Edward.

They all got out of the van, looking round warily. Rose scanned with her mobile scanner. "There are three people in the barn," she said quietly. "They look like they're hiding."

"Can't say I blame them," said Edward. He walked across the farm courtyard towards the barn. His trained eyes picked up the blood splatter on the stones. Carrie and Rose did the same. They looked at one another.

"This has to be it," said Rose.

"Hello !" Edward shouted out in Italian. "I'm hoping you can help me. I'm looking for someone called Oscar. He's in trouble and I need your help !" he called out. After a few moments a man came out of the barn tentatively. He looked closely at the three agents. Finally he focussed on Edward, staring into his eyes.

"You have green eyes too," said the man. "How do you know Oscar ?" he asked.

"He's my son," said Edward. "And he works with us," he said, gesturing to the two women. "He was taken by the criminals we are trying to catch."

"I know. I watched. I am very sorry," said the man. "I could do nothing."

"No you couldn't. They would only have killed you and your family if you had tried to help," said Edward.

"Oscar gave himself away so that they would not find me," said the man. "I am ashamed."

"You have nothing to be ashamed of," said Edward. "Oscar is trained for this and you are not." At this point a woman and a small boy joined the man. Edward smiled at the boy. "You must be Marco," he said. "Oscar told me about you." The boy grinned at him.

"Will they hurt Oscar," asked Marco. Everyone except Edward looked away.

"Yes they will Marco. I want to get him back," said Edward. In spite of his efforts to stay calm, his voice went a little hoarse as he spoke.

"Are you going to send the bad people to prison ?" asked Marco.

"Most of them," said Edward grimly. When he looked at the father, he was nodding grimly.

"I can help you. Do you want me to show you where the tunnels are ?" asked the farmer.

"They have guards outside," said Marco. His parents looked at him sharply.

"Marco, we told you never to go up there !" scolded his mother. The boy looked contrite. "Oh, go on you may as well help if you can," she added.

Marco knelt down and drew in the dust. "The tunnel comes out here, and they always have two guards standing outside with guns. They change them a few times in a day. There are little wires and things in the bushes outside. I saw a goat getting caught up in them once and a man came out with a gun."

"Thankyou Marco, that's really helpful," said Edward. The boy grinned proudly, but wiped the smile off his face when he saw his mother looking at him. Edward checked his watch. "I have more people coming soon. Can you show me where the tunnels are on this map please ?" he said pulling out the map. Marco and his father both reached out and pointed to the same place. It was at the end of a track. "You can't come with us," said Edward. "It's too dangerous. That goes particularly for you young man," he said to Marco.

"What kind of people are they ?" asked the man. "Some of them are foreign."

"They are very dangerous people," said Edward. "They sell weapons around the world. We think they've been taking local people and making them work for them."

"Guiseppe !" gasped the woman. "My brother disappeared from his fishing boat. You mean, he could still be alive and kept in the tunnels by those people ? We thought he was dead," she said.

"It's possible," said Edward. "I can't promise." He glanced at his watch. "We have to go now. Thankyou for you help."

"You are welcome," said the farmer.

"Say hello to Oscar," said Marco. His mother pulled him close and smiled sympathetically at Edward.

The three agents got back into the van and Edward drove back to the road. He could see a dust cloud making its way up the hill below them. After a few moments a lorry came into view, driven by the man from the airport. He waved to Edward who pulled out and led the way up the hill. As they neared the destination Carrie pulled a weapon out from under her seat and rolled down her window. Edward accelerated into a parking area in front of the tunnel entrance. Two men jumped out of the shade, taking sight through their weapons. Carrie shot one and then the other with silent sleeping darts before they could get off a shot. "Great shooting Carrie," said Rose. Carrie grinned. Edward pulled the van to one side and let the lorry in to join them.

Rose and Carrie were already running for the tunnel entrance door. Rose put her device on the keypad and it came up with the same code as the sea tunnel entrance. "Sloppy !" said Rose. "Same code," she called out to the other agents who had joined them. The two guards were dragged to one side and tied up. The driver from the airport stayed to keep guard on the entrance and the vehicles. The rest of the agents grouped in two halves on either side of the door. Edward nodded to Rose and she keyed in the entry code. Carrie kicked the door open and everyone tensed, weapons at the ready.

"OK. We start with stealth and we go from there," instructed Edward. He checked his watch. "It's time. Let's go !" All the agents ran into the empty tunnel behind the door.

It took several minutes before they encountered any resistance. A small guards' room held another two men who were playing cards. They jumped to their feet but were picked off again by Carrie and another agent before they could raise the alarm. Rose ran to the CCTV screens at the side of the room. Edward pulled out a schematic of the tunnels. "Look !" said Rose, pointing. She was pointing at an area which seemed to be some kind of prison with bars and guard patrols. "That must be where they're holding all the kidnapped locals. Oscar may be there too," she added.

"Here !" said Edward. He was looking at a heavily guarded entrance. "That has to be something important." Another screen showed a computer server room. He looked round at the team behind him. "OK I want that server room destroyed. Same for any comms you find. One of our agents is with the Russian group so don't go mad with the Russians please. What does he look like Rose ?" he asked.

"Illya Gordovski is tall, blond, slim and he has a lovely smile," said Rose. There were grins all round and she blushed when she realised what she'd said.

"The smile should give it away," said one of the agents. The others laughed.

"Right, move out !" ordered Edward. Smiles disappeared and the group set off down the tunnel.


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters which I have borrowed from MI High. I've moved the characters on to explore their new lives with Edward Dixon-Halliday. There is a high body count in this chapter.

"_Illya Gordovski is tall, blond, slim and he has a lovely smile," said Rose. There were grins all round and she blushed when she realised what she'd said._

"_The smile should give it away," said one of the agents. The others laughed._

"_Right, move out !" ordered Edward. Smiles disappeared and the group set off down the tunnel._

The tunnel was heading steadily downhill. They eventually arrived at a large chamber. It had tables and chairs, and a set of electronic equipment on one side. It looked like a communications centre. There were twelve or more people in the room. With the benefit of surprise, the agents managed to take a few of the smugglers out before they could react. They weren't able to stop one man setting off an alarm. Red lights flashed and the smugglers ran at the agents. One had a gun and shot wildly into the mass of people in front of him. He shot one of his own team in the arm before one of the agents hit him with a sedative dart.

As the two groups came together, there was no longer room to use weapons without hitting their own respective teams, so they started in hand-to-hand combat. Carrie cut through the enemy operatives. Grimly she kicked and chopped, twisted and jerked her way through the men in front of her. At one point she was completely surrounded because her colleagues weren't making progress as quickly as her. Edward caught her up, knocking out the guy who was about to take her out from the side. "Thanks !" she gasped.

"Wait for us Carrie !" said Edward. Eventually the last of the enemy agents was unconscious on the floor. A couple of the team set charges along the communications desks and destroyed it. Rose grabbed some paperwork and stuffed it into her backpack. One of the MI9 agents had been injured with a knife wound to the arm. His colleagues gave him first aid and left him sittting against the wall with weapons to guard the unconscious smugglers. He nodded to Edward as the rest of the team left. There were more CCTV screens at the end of the room. Edward looked and saw that men were being put into cells in the prison area and locked in. Lines of enemy agents were arming themselves and setting out towards them.

"Good of them to keep us updated on their activities team !" he said. "They're heading our way. Get your gas masks on !" Everyone pulled on their gas masks. He looked back and checked that the wounded man had also got his mask on. The man gave him a thumbs up. One of the agents pulled a couple of grenades from their backpack. There were two tunnels exiting the main chamber. They split into two teams and set out. Edward took Rose and Carrie with him. They heard shouting and the gas canisters discharging from the other tunnel group. Edward nodded to Carrie and she pulled out her gas grenade and hurled it down the corridor in front of them. It bounced down the incline some distance before bursting and spraying mist all round the corridor. It worked just in time to knock out the front runners of the group of men coming up their corridor.

Running down the tunnel, they jumped over the bodies of the fallen men, pursuing the ones who had turned and run back the way they had come. They came to another larger chamber. It was shaped like a giant gas bubble. The floor had been levelled and flattened out. Doors lead from the side walls. Someone started shooting from one of the doors. "Take cover !" shouted Edward. They all dived behind what cover they could find. Carrie ducked into a room on the left and found a tall dark-haired woman standing alone. She smiled evilly and pulled a long, sharp knife from her jacket. The two women circled one another. Carrie dodged as the other woman lunged at her with the knife. Dancing to one side, Carrie kicked out, but missed the hand with the knife. She clipped the woman's ribs instead. The woman gasped but lunged again. This time she only just missed Carrie's neck. Turning and twisting, Carrie bent and caught the woman behind the knees. Pulling her off balance, the woman fell to the floor. She rolled and thrust the knife up towards Carrie's stomach, but Carrie was ready for her and leapt over the woman's fallen body and rolled out of reach.

They both jumped to their feet, but Carrie used her jump to leap back at the woman. The other woman's greater height put Carrie at a natural disadvantage, but coming from below, Carrie knocked her off her feet again. This time she fell forward. Carrie was ready to take her on when she rolled and attacked her again, but the woman just twitched and shivered. Puzzled, Carrie paused, still with her arms out ready to attack. She stepped carefully round the woman, making sure she was out of reach at all times. She saw the pool of blood creeping out from under the woman, who looked up at her and whispered a curse. She'd fallen on to her own blade. Carrie shivered, looked away and went back to the door of the room. Glancing back she saw a chair in the centre of the room, bolted to the floor. There was blood around the chair. No prizes for guessing what they did in here.

Carrie checked out the main chamber again. She saw Edward fighting off two smugglers. She took out one of the them and Edward then managed to finish off the other one. Edward nodded his thanks, breathing heavily. They helped the other agents and checked out the side rooms. One of the rooms contained a large set of computer servers. Rose connected her spy-pod to one to collect some data. Then she and another agent set up a charge in the centre of the room. They left the room and set off the charge. It generated an electro-magnetic pulse which washed through the whole room, but couldn't penetrate the rock walls. All of the servers closed down, the lights went out and the humming stopped. Rose's colleague collected the pulse generator. "We might need it again," he said. Rose nodded.

As the came out of the room she found one of their agents tapping at their watch and shaking their wrist. They looked up to see the agent holding the pulse generator. "You might have warned me !" he complained.

"Sorry," Rose apologised.

They heard footsteps coming along a corridor leading off to the left. They all braced into defensive positions but there was a collective sigh of relief as the other half of the MI9 team ran into the room, ready for a fight. "Oh, we're back with you !" said a woman on the other team. "This place is a rabbit warren."

"You can take your masks off now," said Edward. "The gas will be inactive by now." Everyone removed their gas masks. They secured the agents they'd taken and consulted the tunnel schematic again. Edward indicated the entrance to the next tunnel going down and they all set off again. This time their luck ran out. As they ran out into another large chamber, piled high with crates and boxes, teams of people holding weapons stood up from behind the crates. The MI9 agents kept going until the men opened fire and three of the MI9 agents were shot down. Edward called a halt.

"Stop, everyone, stop !" he shouted.

"Get your hands up," a voice shouted. All the MI9 agents stopped and raised their hands. "Weapons on the floor," shouted the voice. It sounded familiar. From behind a pile of crates stepped Abe. "Well, if it isn't Agent Dixon-Halliday !" he crowed. "So nice of you to join us. Tie them all up !" he ordered the other men. "Bring him with me," he said, pointing at Edward. "I want to organise a little reunion," he said, smiling. Edward realised for the first time that the guy was deeply creepy.

A group of four people who were dressed differently from the rest, came into the room. They looked at the MI9 agents being tied up and came up to Abe. "Is this situation finally under control ?" one man asked angrily in Russian.

"Of course it is. We will deal with them later," said Abe. "Get your weapons ready for inspection. The customer will be here soon. They're coming up from the sea entrance like you did. They won't see any of this," he said gesturing back at the agents behind him. "Get them out of sight !" he ordered. "We don't want to put off our customers do we ?" With this he shoved Edward out towards another tunnel. "I'll be in the cells. Tell me when they arrive," he ordered.

Abe goaded Edward all the way down the tunnel. He was accompanied by two of his armed men and he carried a weapon himself. They came into the area that Edward had seen on the CCTV. Lines of cells were set against the walls of a long chamber. Men stood in the cells, looking out at Edward being pushed along by Abe and his guards. They stopped in front of one of the cells and Abe waved his hand to two guards at the end of the corridor. They reached for a bank of metal switches on the wall, the cell door clicked and Abe pulled it open.

Inside the cell, an old man was kneeling on the floor beside someone lying on a low bed. The old man reluctantly got up but not quickly enough for Abe who angrily pushed him out of his way. Lying on the bed, covered with a single blanket was Oscar. His face was barely recognisable, swollen and bleeding. They'd laid him on his side in the recovery position. Dribbles of blood had been coming out of his mouth on to the pillow. He didn't respond to the people standing in front of him. Edward felt consumed with anger. Oscar's breathing sounded weak and shallow. He wasn't going to last much longer in here.

"Hey, wake up ! Daddy's here !" shouted Abe. He stepped forward and shook Oscar. Furious, Edward kicked out at Abe, knocking him off his feet. One of the guards jumped forward and hit Edward across the face with the butt of his rifle. Edward fell to his knees on the cell floor. Abe jumped up shouting, "Don't you dare do that again ! I'm in charge here ! I showed your pretty little boy here and I'll show you." He didn't hear the gentle click of cells doors unlocking. Edward's head was ringing and he didn't hear it either. When he looked up there was a line of faces behind the two guards and Abe. He didn't recognise them.

Abe continued screaming, spit flying from his mouth. Edward saw the feet of the two guards disappear from view. He looked up at Abe and smiled. This sent the man into a complete rage. Abe swung out to hit Edward but his fist didn't connect because several sets of hands grabbed him from behind. Shocked, Abe looked round into the unsmiling faces of the prisoners. The centre of the cell area was filled with men. They all looked threateningly at Abe. Panicking, he pulled up his gun, but Edward kicked his feet from under him and the bullet hit the ceiling. Instantly Abe disappeared under a pile of punching and kicking men. His screams quickly stopped. Edward felt a little sick but got up from his knees to walk back to Oscar's bed.

"You are Oscar's Dad ?" asked a voice. He looked round into the worried looking face of a tall blond young man, not unlike Oscar. Edward nodded. "I am Illya," said the other man. "Wait. I will untie you," he said, cutting through the ties on Edward's wrists.

Edward held out a hand. "Good to meet you Illya. We need to get these men out of here," said Edward.

"How is Oscar ? Oh my God !" Illya said, seeing Oscar for the first time. "Oscar !" he exclaimed in horror and cursed in Russian. He knelt down by Oscar's bed. The old man spoke to him in Italian and Illya answered him. "The old man says he is getting weaker all the time. There has been blood coming out of his mouth," reported Illya.

Edward knelt and felt Oscar's pulse. It was weak and erratic. He pushed a curl of blood-stained hair from Oscar's face and spoke softly to him. "It's OK son, we're going to get you out of here. You just take it easy." There was no response from Oscar.


	22. Chapter 22

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters which I have borrowed from MI High. I've moved the characters on to explore their new lives with Edward Dixon-Halliday.

_Edward knelt and felt Oscar's pulse. It was weak and erratic. He pushed a curl of blood-stained hair from Oscar's face and spoke softly to him. "It's OK son, we're going to get you out of here. You just take it easy." There was no response from Oscar._

Luca's team had three fast inflatable boats in navy grey. The agents split themselves between the boats along with some navy personnel who were going to assist them. Luca explained that their task was to entrap the people who were coming to buy the Russian weapons and to capture any members of the smuggling ring who tried to escape through the sea tunnel entrance. They headed out to sea and circled the island to St. Christopher's cove. The naval destroyer stayed out at sea. They planned to track any boats which might be coming into the bay and then come in to help trap them if they tried to escape. Luca hoped that he had covered everything. He didn't want to let Edward down. Enough had gone wrong already.

The agent's boats headed into the bay. Luca was looking out from the front of the boat to see if there were any guards at the entrance. He saw two people standing with weapons at the entrance. They appeared to be relaxed and didn't react instantly. Luca spoke into his microphone. "The guards must think we are the weapons buyers. Try to keep any uniforms or obvious signs of who we are out of sight. Hopefully we'll be able to get in close enough to take them out," he said. There was a murmured response and people started shoving naval hats and insignias out of sight. "Act like we're worried about being followed," instructed Luca after a moment's inspiration. Various team members pulled their weapons out and started scanning the sea around and behind them.

They were able to continue like this right up to the jetty. Luca tossed out a rope and one of the uniformed smugglers took it and tied up their boat. The second guard joined him, saying that he'd told the boss that the customers were here, but there seemed to be some kind of incident going on in HQ. The guard then glanced at the face of Luca and then the other agents. His expression told Luca that he had realised they were not their customers. Luca was pretty sure he didn't look like a Somali. As the guard reached for his weapon, the agent beside Luca shot him with a tranquilliser dart. Luca knocked out the first guard as he turned to see what had happened to his colleague.

Luca gestured for the team to get out of the boats and head for the entrance. He posted all the naval team at the entrance to keep guard. They might need to handle the arrival of the weapons customers. Luca checked his watch. All of the charges laid at the entrances should have just gone off. He keyed in the door entry code, and opened the door. The door opened on to a startled looking smuggler. Luca shot him with a tranquilliser and was about to shoot the men walking behind him, when he realised the men weren't wearing a uniform. Too late he saw a uniformed man at the back of the line running back up the tunnel. The men left behind looked frightened and crouched down. Luca called out in Sicilian. "Are you the fishermen ?" The men looked up curiously.

"Yes. We are prisoners here. Please don't shoot !" called the first man.

"You'd better come out," instructed Luca. "We have people guarding the entrance. You can wait with them," he said. The tunnel was narrow, so the men had to squeeze past him.

"There are more of us in the cells," said the first man as he passed. "Please help them," he asked. Luca sent one of the agents back to warn the naval men to keep the prisoners safe and separate from the smugglers.

"We're on our way up there. Is there anything I need to know about ?" he asked the fisherman.

"There is a young man who they brought into the cells with us. The beat him very badly and he is very sick," said the man. "Is he one of yours ?" Luca nodded. "I am sorry. Also they have a lot of guns which they keep in the second chamber. It is very well guarded. I think you will need more people," said the man, looking worried. Luca grinned at him.

"There are more of us coming from the top," he said. The local man wished him good luck, and joined his friends by the entrance. The agents ran up the tunnel towards the inner door. Luca made everyone put on gas masks and they took out a gas grenade. After opening the door slightly, an agent tossed the grenade hard through the opening. They shut the door on a hail of bullets. After a few seconds the firing stopped. They opened the door again, and this time there was no shooting. Ducking down they flung open the door and ran through, weapons at the ready. Three men were lying unconscious on the floor. They tied them up and left them where they lay. Luca's team continued on through the tunnel heading up a steady incline.

Back in the weapons store, Rose, Carrie and the remaining agents were tied up and lined up against one wall. Three of the MI9 agents were dead. The smugglers dragged the bodies of one woman and two men into a side chamber and shut the door. Carrie watched them, feeling guilty that she hadn't even had time to find out the dead agents' names. The smugglers appeared to be discussing what to do with the remaining agents. Finally, they gestured to them to return back up the tunnel they had come down. One guard led from the front and they had to walk in single file behind him with the other guards following behind. The Russians had started laying out weapons and ammunition in the centre of the chamber behind them. Rose got a glimpse of rocket launchers and some boxes which looked like they might be detonators. She didn't get much of a look before she was shoved along behind the others.

Eventually they came out into the second large chamber where Carrie had killed the tall dark-haired woman. The guards lined them up against the wall again. The smugglers untied the few groggy men who had been left behind by the MI9 agents. They seemed to be searching for something. Eventually one guard went into the interrogation room and shouted out to the others. Three guards ran in to join him and they could hear a lot of shouting. Realising that this only left two men guarding them Carrie glanced at the other agents and nodded to the agent at the far end of the line and then to the door of the interrogation room. They nodded back. The team launched at the two remaining guards who were listening to the shouting and only had half their attention on the agents. The agent on the end of the line sprinted to the interrogation room door and pulled it shut. With his hands behind his back he scrabbled for the key and turned it. By now, kicking wildly, Carrie had knocked one man off his feet. Rose kicked his gun out of his grasp and stamped on his hand. He screamed out.

They heard the guards in the interrogation room shouting and banging on the locked door. The second guard was underneath two other agents, firing off shots, one of which caught the agent by the interrogation room door in the ankle. He screamed in pain and fell to the floor. Finally they managed to kick the guard's gun away and Carrie kicked him in the head, knocking him unconscious. "Wow, Carrie !" said Rose. She was quite shocked by her old friend's aggression.

"That's for what they did to Oscar," said Carrie. "You didn't see what was inside the interrogation room !" she said, obviously upset.

"Sorry Carrie. It was just kind of a shock, you know," said Rose. She was sitting on the first guard, along with another woman agent. "We need to help him," she said, pointing to the injured agent. "We need to get these ties off us somehow too." Carrie started looking round for something to cut the ties with. They all froze when they heard many footsteps running down the tunnel towards them. "Oh no ! What are we going to do ?" asked Rose.

To their amazement, into the chamber ran Marco's father and a large group of local men, all carrying rifles, shotguns and ancient looking hand guns. Marco's father waved the other men to put their guns down when he saw Carrie and Rose. He gave instructions and the men spread out and started untying the agents wrists. Carrie and Rose thanked them. When they saw the remaining conscious guard on the floor a man went up to him and smashed his shotgun butt across his head, knocking him unconscious. They dealt out the same treatment to the semi-conscious smugglers lying around the chamber. Rose winced and she noticed that Carrie seemed a bit less enthusiastic now too. They couldn't speak the language so they couldn't say anything to stop them. Rose pointed down the tunnel behind them and mimed guns and shooting. She wanted to tell the local men that they shouldn't go down there, but she knew there was no stopping them. In any case, they were the ones with weapons now. She told one of the remaining agents to give first aid to the injured man who was losing blood from his leg wound.

The local men were already setting off down the tunnel. With Carrie and the three remaining agents, she followed them. Rose heard a gun battle start before she reached the weapons chamber. She and the other agents crouched down and ran to take cover behind some crates. The Sicilians were shooting at the smugglers and the Russians. The shotguns were slow to reload and some of the guns were clearly not very accurate. What they lacked in sophisticated weaponry the Sicilians more than made up for with determination and aggression. They slowly drove the smugglers back. Two of the smugglers were dead along with one of the Russians. There was shouting at the back of the room and Rose saw the last Russian running out of the room and down the rear tunnel. The rats were deserting a sinking ship.

Rose saw her backpack lying on the floor near her. She reached out and grabbed it to her. Inside she found her tranquilliser gun. She managed to take out one of the guards. Then she saw Carrie's bag close to where hers had been. Rose had to crawl a little way across the floor to get it. She dived back for cover, but too late as a bullet grazed her lower arm. The pain made her drop the bag. Carrie immediately dived over to her, pulled her into cover and then grabbed the bag herself. Carrie quickly tied a dressing over Rose's bleeding arm and strapped it. Rose was surprised at how quickly she worked. "Thanks Carrie," she said, shaken.

"Sit tight !" instructed Carrie. She rummaged in her bag and pulled out an odd looking device. She set a timer switch and dipping out beyond the crate, she tossed the device over the top of the crates behind the smugglers. The instant it hit the floor, it started making strange popping noises. The number of smugglers firing at them was clearly reducing. Rose looked questioningly at Carrie. Carrie just grinned back. She took out another device, set it and tossed it further down the room behind the smugglers. This time there was shouting from the smugglers and two or three jumped up and tried to run away. They were picked off by the locals with ease.

Marco's father shouted to the local men who stopped shooting. He called out to the smugglers. There was a pause and then one answered. Shrugging, Marco's father signalled the local men to continue shooting. Carrie threw another of her odd grenades and took out some more smugglers. There were now so few enemy firing on them that the local men made a run for it and leapt on the remaining smugglers still putting up a fight. There was a wild fist fight, stabbing and shooting. The locals were obviously settling a score and there was no holding them back. "I hope they leave enough of them alive for MI9 to question afterwards," shouted Carrie to Rose. "I don't know how to stop them. They're crazy !"


	23. Chapter 23

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters which I have borrowed from MI High. I've moved the characters on to explore their new lives with Edward Dixon-Halliday.

_Carrie threw another of her odd grenades and took out some more smugglers. There were now so few enemy firing on them that the local men made a run for it and leapt on the remaining smugglers putting up a fight. There was a wild fist fight, stabbing and shooting. The locals were obviously settling a score and there was no holding them back. "I hope they leave enough of them alive for MI9 to question afterwards," shouted Carrie to Rose. "I don't know how to stop them. They're crazy !"_

Rose and Carrie huddled down behind their crate for protection against the flailing arms and bullets bouncing round the room. Eventually the fighting died down. Carrie and Rose peeked round to see the local men calmly collecting bodies together. They consulted amongst themselves and then turned to Carrie, Rose and the last three of the MI9 agents. "Friends ?" asked Marco's father. Carrie and Rose looked at one another.

"I think he's asking where the prisoners are being held," suggested Rose. She pointed back down the tunnel where Abe had taken Edward. She again mimed guns and shooting. Marco's father nodded and directed the local men down the tunnel.

"Do you want to stay here," Carrie asked Rose.

"No way. I want to see what's going on," said Rose. "It's not bleeding badly. I'll be fine," she added. Carrie directed the remaining MI9 team down the tunnel after the locals. She was expecting to hear shooting ahead, but instead she heard cheering and laughing. When Carrie, Rose and the other agents emerged into the prison area she found a huge group of men hugging one another and laughing.

"Rose, you are hurt !" shouted a familiar voice. Illya came running towards her with concern on his face. "Your arm. You are bleeding," he said as he came close. Gently Illya wrapped his arms round her and gave her a hug. "Hello Carrie," he said.

Carrie smiled at him. "And I don't get a hug ?" she teased. He smiled back at her. It was a very nice smile, Carrie thought. Rose was right.

"Are you alright ?" he asked.

Carrie shrugged. "Pretty good. We've lost a few people," she said quietly. "Where's Oscar ?" Illya pointed towards the cell where Oscar was lying. They all arrived at the cell at the same time some of the prisoners arrived with a stretcher. They carried it into the cell and several men, including Edward lifted Oscar on to it as carefully as they could. They left him lying on his side. Carrie put her hand to her mouth to stop herself crying out. When the blanket slipped off Oscar, everyone could see the bruising on his body. "No !" whispered Carrie.

"Carrie, thank goodness. What's the status of the rest of the team ?" asked Edward.

Taking a deep breath, trying to stay calm, Carrie reported, "Rose and three others are injured. I think there are four dead." Carrie felt guilty that she didn't know exactly how many of the MI9 agents had died. In the heat of the battle, she could only concentrate on the job in hand, which was staying alive and taking out the smugglers. "Marco's father and a group of the local men turned up and freed us. They helped clear out the smugglers on the way here too. I think they've killed most of them, so I don't know how much information we're going to be able to get out of the rest." Edward looked down at the ground. Carrie saw for the first time, the full weight of responsibility which rested on their team leader.

"I'm sorry. Well done all of you," said Edward. He saw Marco's father and went to shake his hand. He spoke in Italian to the man. "Thank you for all your help. I think you have saved our mission and I am very grateful. Could you please ask your friends not to kill any more of the smugglers please ? We need to gather information from them so that we can finish off this network completely," he asked. Marco's father nodded his understanding and started talking to the other men.

Everyone braced as they heard footsteps running up the tunnel at the end of the chamber. Into the room ran Luca and his group of agents. "Edward ! Is everyone OK ?" shouted Luca. "Have you found Oscar ?" he asked. Edward stood back so Luca could walk over to see Oscar for himself. He hadn't seen Oscar since they were back at HQ. He sucked in his breath when he saw Oscar lying unconscious.

"We've lost several agents," said Edward quietly. "We need to evacuate the wounded and start processing the prisoners. Can you get all of these men out of here please ?"

"Sure. Do you want to take Oscar out from the bottom or the top ?" asked Luca. "He's going to need medical attention as soon as possible."

"I'll take him up to the top," said Edward. "We can call in a helicopter from there. You might have weapons smugglers to deal with at the bottom."

"Well, lets take the locals out at the top too," suggested Luca. "Take all the wounded out that way. I'll take prisoners down to the bottom." Edward agreed. He asked Carrie to take Rose up to the top for attention. Luca asked the local men if they would help carry Oscar and they readily agreed. His stretcher was quickly picked up and carried up out of the room. Carrie followed with Rose. As the large group made its way up out of the tunnel complex, more wounded were gathered together and carried or helped out of the tunnels. Once out of the underground tunnels, Edward called for medical air evacuation for Oscar and the agent who had been shot in the leg. Some of the others were given first aid in the old bread van.

A navy helicopter arrived to evacuate Oscar and the other agent. Ambulances arrived to collect the other injured. The driver from the airport collected together the local men and took them home to their families. There were jubilant scenes all through the local villages as word went round that the missing men had been found and were safe. Guards were posted around the entrances to the tunnels and the grim work of removing the dead agents, the dead smugglers and the wounded smugglers began. The increasing pile of body bags was depressing Edward. There wasn't a lot of chat among the MI9 and navy personnel while they gathered and accounted for all the people inside the tunnels. As usual, he regretted the waste of life, but while evil existed, someone had to deal with it.

The navy team had caught the Somali weapons buyers as they came into the harbour. After being fired on by the team at the tunnel entrance, they turned and fled, only to be greeted by the naval destroyer and another team in a fast inflatable. Outgunned, they unwillingly surrendered.

It was late when Edward was finally free to join the rest of his original team. Rose, Carrie and Luca had gathered their things and regrouped at the airport. "Is there any news ?" asked Edward. He didn't have to say what about. They knew he was desperate for news about Oscar.

"He's critical, but stable," said Rose. "They're assessing the internal bleeding before they decide whether to operate," she added.

"Get some rest Rose," said Edward, seeing how tired she was. "Things are being handled for us now."

"Rose collected some electronic traffic and some paperwork," reported Carrie. "It's been logged and transmitted to HQ. They're going to deal with it."

"The local people have asked you to go and see them back in the town tonight if you can manage it," said Luca. "I think they want to say thankyou."

"I was hoping to see Oscar first," said Edward. He sighed, looking tired.

"There's a helicopter here," said Luca. "They'll take you to see Oscar. Why don't you, me and Carrie go into town tomorrow and meet the locals. They've helped us out a lot. They'll understand the delay if we explain." Edward nodded his thanks and Luca started making arrangements over the phone.

Edward entered Oscar's naval hospital room with a now familiar feeling of dread. Seeing his boy lying, apparently lifeless, in the bed made Edward feel as if he'd been hit in the stomach. Oscar's face had been cleaned up and the cuts stitched. It remained swollen and bruised. Accompanied by the beeps and buzzes of the monitoring equipment, he took Oscar's hand and stroked it gently. "Hello Oscar. It's Dad. I wanted you to know, I'll be back. The doctor's will look after you for a while. I've missed you. It's your birthday soon. I want you to think of a present. Something you really want, OK ? Love you son." said Edward quietly. He put Oscar's hand back down and left, unable to look back.

The next morning, Edward received a call to say that Oscar would be having surgery that day to repair internal damage from the beating. The surgeons had waited until his internal bleeding had nearly stopped before they began operating. His condition was still stable.

Luca drove Edward, Illya, Carrie and Rose into the town to meet the locals. They had been told to head to the town square. There they were met by a large crowd of people. It looked like the whole town had turned out. They recognised many faces in the crowd and the men they had freed waved to them as they passed. A well-dressed man wearing a chain greeted them and waved them forward. There were speeches and thanks given. They were all given a gift. Finally, Edward was handed a beautifully carved wooden statue of a woman. They told him it was for Oscar. Edward struggled to hold back tears as he thanked them for their kindness. The crowd started to thin out and the three of them were leaving when a small boy ran up to them. It was Marco, followed by his mother and father.

Edward thanked Marco's father for all his help. "Our mission could easily have failed without your help," he told the man.

"Our friends would still be in captivity if you had not come here to help," said Marco's father. "Thankyou for everything. How is Oscar ?"

"He's still very sick," said Edward. "He is having an operation today .." he trailed off. Marco's father gripped him in a bear hug.

"He is a good boy. God will look after him," he said. "Marco ?" he called to his boy.

Marco offered something up to Edward. It was Oscar's night vision glasses. There was a crack in one lens. "Oscar lost his sunglasses," said Marco reluctantly. Edward smiled and knelt down.

"I think Oscar would like you to keep them," said Edward. He gestured Marco closer and whispered in his ear. "They're not sunglasses. They're special spy glasses. They let you see in the dark !" he whispered. Marco's eyes lit up.

"Wow ! Thanks !" said Marco excitedly. The group said their goodbyes and separated. As they walked back to their car, Luca put his arm around Edward's shoulders.

"He's going to be OK Edward. Just believe," said Luca.


	24. Chapter 24

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters which I have borrowed from MI High. I've moved the characters on to explore their new lives with Edward Dixon-Halliday. After the storm.

"_They're not sunglasses. They're special spy glasses. They let you see in the dark !" he whispered. Marco's eyes lit up._

"_Wow ! Thanks !" said Marco excitedly. The group said their goodbyes and separated. As they walked back to their car, Luca put his arm around Edward's shoulders. _

"_He's going to be OK Edward. Just believe," said Luca. _

Three weeks later, Oscar was sitting in a hospital bed waiting for his father to arrive. A carved wooden statue stood on the cabinet beside his bed. Still weak from his injuries, he couldn't walk further than the bathroom. His recovery was taking longer this time due to his already weakened condition when he was captured. MI9 were having a ceremony to honour the agents who had been killed in Sicily. They'd held it off as long as possible so that Oscar could attend, but couldn't put it off any longer. He glanced out of the window into the sunshine of the day. It did nothing to lift his mood.

Oscar had lost track of time. Some days or maybe weeks before he had woken in a hospital room to find his father lying asleep with his head on the side of the bed, clutching Oscar's hand. He'd been glad to see him. Edward had woken when Oscar squeezed his hand slightly. There was no mistaking the joy in his father's face. For the first time in many years, Oscar felt a tiny spark of light in what had become a pretty dark place.

Edward walked into the room pushing a wheelchair. He also seemed to be in a sombre mood. "Ready son ?" he asked. Oscar nodded. Edward helped him get into a dressing gown, slippers and into the wheelchair. Oscar hoped he wasn't going to embarrass himself. Luca met them at the car. They got Oscar into the back seat and wrapped a blanket round him. Luca drove them to the back of an obscure government building. Oscar got back into his wheelchair and they put the blanket over his knees. Oscar felt very self-conscious being wheeled through the building, passing people as they went. After years of hiding his identity from everyone, he found it hard to cope with being the centre of attention. Edward and Luca pushed him into a large lecture theatre style room which was already full of people. Edward parked him up next to another agent who had his leg in plaster, and then sat next to Luca in the seats behind him.

The head of MI9 came to the podium. "Welcome everyone. We are here today to remember those who cannot be thanked publicly for their sacrifice. Everyone who works for this organisation knows that there is always the potential for loss of life. Those who take the risk do so knowingly. This does not mean that we do not feel for their loss. Today we will remember them. She read out the names of all the agents who had been killed. Oscar only recognised a couple of the names. He looked along the rows of seats trying to see the others. He found Carrie and Rose sitting further along the same row as his father and Luca. Illya was sitting with them. Oscar noticed that Illya was holding Rose's hand down below the level of the chair. For some reason this made him feel a little happier.

At a word from the Head everyone, except Oscar and the man in the plaster cast beside him, stood to sing the national anthem, while pictures of the dead agents were displayed on the screen behind her. She then announced that they were all being awarded posthumous medals for bravery. Then she went on to say that they must also recognise the living for their efforts. She described the mission and how Edward's team had handled their setbacks and opportunities. Edward was called out to receive a Service Award. Oscar clapped and smiled at his father. Edward gave him a small smile back. One at a time, each of the surviving agents from the mission was given an appropriate award, including the man in the wheelchair next to him. Clapping loudly for Carrie, Rose and Illya, Oscar began to feel tired. He felt his head nodding. He was shocked awake when he realised what the Head was now talking about.

"And finally, I wanted to say that it is very rare that I can laugh out loud when I read a mission report," she said. She looked across at Oscar and smiled. "Agent Cole found himself betrayed by a double agent, in a building alone, surrounded by enemy agents and without weapons. He needed to escape and find a safe hiding place for a communications transmitter so that his team could continue to operate. He opened the door and flung out two tins of soup, making the enemy think they were grenades while he ran for it," she said. There was laughter around the room. Oscar was now feeling very self-conscious. He felt his father's hand on his shoulder.

"Pure genius Oscar, honestly," said Edward quietly in Oscar's ear.

"Cream of Mushroom I think," said the Head. There was another ripple of laughter. Oscar smiled nervously, fiddling with his blanket. "Agent Cole managed to secure the transmitter before being captured. We are giving Agent Cole a bravery award for showing grace under duress," said the Head. Stunned, Oscar found himself moving. His father pushed his wheelchair up to the edge of the rostrum. The Head leant down and pinned a medal to his dressing gown, handed him a small parcel and shook his hand. Everyone clapped.

Carrie leant across to Rose. "What's showing grace under duress ?" she whispered.

"Not giving up any information when you're being tortured," said Rose.

"Oh," said Carrie quietly.

The ceremony ended and Oscar was soon surrounded by his team. He was feeling very tired now, longing to be back in his bed. He looked at the medal glinting on his chest and wondered if he ought to take it off. He reached to get it and Carrie stopped him.

"Don't you dare take that off !" she said. Oscar jumped slightly, not quite knowing how to take her. Carrie leaned down and gently hugged him. "Thankyou for getting better Oscar. We really missed you," she said and kissed him on the cheek. She got a small smile back. "Are you going to open that ?" she asked, pointing at the parcel the Head had given him.

"Can you do it Carrie ?" Oscar asked, handing her the parcel. Glancing at the others, Carrie pulled off the wrapping paper and handed the object inside to Oscar. It appeared to be a tin of soup, except that the label had been replaced with something that looked the same, but had different words printed on it. Edward read it out loud.

"Pure Genius. Made of the rarest of ingredients: Inspiration and Ingenuity. In recognition of the work of Agent Oscar Cole," read out Edward. He smiled at Oscar. "Well done son. Without you, the mission would have failed."

The team spoke quietly for a few minutes and then Edward said that he ought to get Oscar back to the hospital. Everyone could see that Oscar was exhausted. His face was white even in comparison to its normal pale shade and he was swaying slightly in his wheelchair.

Edward sat beside Oscar in the back seat of the car on their return journey. He unpinned Oscar's medal for him and put it away in its box. "Shall I look after these for you Oscar ?" he asked. Oscar nodded. Oscar was slumped back against the car seat, looking tired and sad. "Hey, cheer up son. You're going to be better soon," said Edward, reaching out and holding Oscar's hand. "You remember little Marco ?" asked Edward. Oscar nodded. "I let him keep your night vision glasses. He was made up." Oscar smiled, but the smile soon disappeared.

"I nearly blew it Dad," he said almost too quietly to hear.

"No, you didn't Oscar. I nearly blew it. You weren't fully fit for active assignment, but I took you because I needed you there. If I hadn't, the whole mission could have gone up the spout and I might have lost the whole team," said Edward. "Too many people know that you're my son. I'm starting to wonder if we ought to separate. You might be safer."

"No !" said Oscar. Edward was shocked at the force of Oscar's response. "I don't care if I get killed. I've had to do without you for all those years and I'm not going to lose you again !" said Oscar. "Am I not any good ?" he asked, now with tears in his eyes.

"What, are you kidding ? You're brilliant ! You've no idea how proud I am of you," said Edward. "If you want to know the truth, I feel guilty. I know I can rely on you totally and I can rely on the people who love you too. I need you all, but I'm risking your lives every time I take you on a mission."

"We know that," said Oscar, more calmly now. "We risked our lives before you came back. It's our job too isn't it ? I'm happy so long as I'm with you." There was a minute or so of silence between them.

"Hey, you were going to tell me what you wanted for your birthday," Edward said cheerily. Oscar looked confused. "I may not have had your full attention when I asked you," admitted Edward. This got him a small smile. Oscar appeared to be thinking.

"I would like to go on a holiday, with you, somewhere sunny," said Oscar.

"OK. It's a deal," said Edward.

"We can ? Really ?" asked Oscar.

"Yes, of course. I told you that you could have what you wanted. So, we'll go, when you're a bit better of course," promised Edward.

It was another two weeks before Oscar was declared well enough to fly anywhere with his father. Edward took him on a first class ticket to a remote Caribbean island. On their second day, Oscar was resting in a hammock slung between two palm trees beside the beach, looking up at the sunlight twinkling through the leaves of the trees. He'd been snorkelling with his Dad that morning. He was still getting tired quickly, so couldn't do much without resting. The gentle swinging of the hammock was lulling him to sleep. His father appeared by his side, holding an e-reader. "You OK Oscar ?" he asked. Oscar nodded sleepily. "Was this what you wanted then ?" Edward asked. Oscar nodded happily, "It's the best Dad," he said and fell asleep.

THE END

Well, I hope you liked it. It's a bit harder edged than the other stories. Please read and review. I'll decide whether or not to do any more. Young team or adult team ?


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